The Middle of every story begins with the entrance to the story world itself. The more exotic and unusual this world, the better the read.�
List sights and sounds, smells and tastes, texture and mood of the setting of your story.�
First list may be general and generic. Refine the list as you refine drafts. Little-by-little find the exact right authentic and unusual and historically-just-right word, detail, object, sensation…
Each day draws me deeper into the exotic and unusual world of a premiere surf spot, The Hook at Pleasure Point in Santa Cruz, California.
The Hook
- Mean age range: 25-30 years old
- Principal occupation: surfing
- Palm trees tower�
- Cypress trees sway in the bay breeze
- Fog horn blares
- Gulls cry
- Surfboards stick out from truck beds, latched atop car roofs
- Boys dressed head to toe in black zip by like seals astride bicycles built for two = boy and surfboard
- Nightly news tracks high and low tide each day
- The aroma of bacon, eggs, and hash browns rolled in flour tortillas waft from a shack known for “rolling fatties”
- Girls in uggs, cotton sun dresses, and hoodies�
- The smell of seaweed at low tide
- Snippet of conversation: “Hey, dude. The sun’s coming out. I might have to go surfing.”
- Mexican music floats in on a hazy layer of marine warmth
Thematically, the place reeks of youth and movement and the power of nature, though I have yet to mention the sea…
What are some authentic and unusual details of your story world??
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