Imagine that one of your characters have come for a visit. How would they react to your space? Pick a room and desribe the room itself from thier perspective or write about the experience they would have in that space. What would surprise them? What would they like or dislike?
This is meant to be a thought dump and not a polished piece. Just get out a word count and enjoy the experience of living a different perspective with your character.
Here's my exercise with Kryda visiting my work space:
I invite Kryda into my basement to see where I work.
"Ah, ye work underground eh? I can get behind that." As she rounds the corner, she notices the plants that are oddly placed in the washing room and asks "don't these belong outside?" with a crooked eyebrow.
"It's still too cold for them here but they need more time than my summers can provide. You have a nice long growing season where you're from so you don't have that problem, you can just plant them straight into the ground. Come on, this isn't what I brought you down to show you." She is still examining the plants but I lead her into my workspace.
"This rug is so soft and floofy!" She exclaims, lifting her bare feet away from it. "It tickles." She sighs as she steps back onto the cold concrete. "Thas bet'r. Whoa! What're these??" She asks enthusiastically, checking out the microwave and minifridge. Failing to find a handle on the the microwave, she attempts the fridge and pulls it open. "Ha! got this one. Ah, it's an icebox. Where's the ice? How's it cold?" She sticks her hand in to feel the temperature then lifts the hatch to the freezer portion and touches the ice built up there. "The ice is in the top? it's supposed to be colder at the bottom. Huh." She closes the door to the fridge and returns her attention to the microwave. I hit the button to pop it open for her. She notes that the temperature is normal in there.
"That one is used to heat up my food."
"Where do you put the fire?"
"uh...I'll have to give you a crash course on electricity at some point...speaking of which...." I turn on my computer but her attention is on the back wall, specifically, the wine rack.
"They're all empty?!" I chuckle at her and respond
"yes, they are all empty. Perhaps you'd like to help me make some? If you're around long enough that is...that's a whole different writing prompt. Anyway, here." I go back into the fridge and pop a beer for her. She sniffs at it then takes a sip. "Ahhh, that's alright. You make this one?"
"No, that one I buy. Oh, here's something you might be interested in." I pull out my swords and begin telling some stories about them. As she checks them each out, I turn back to my computer to log in. It isn't long before she turns to look at my dual monitors in awe. She touches the main screen, nearly knocking it over then notices my keyboard and mouse as I navigate some log ins and programs. I explain some basics of navigating with the mouse and typing on the keyboard. She picks up the pencil and notebook and asks
"Can't you just use these? That," She gestures to the screen, "looks like a pain in the arse." I laugh.
"It can be sometimes..but when it works well and after you get used to it, it's actually quite a lot faster. I do still use my notebooks, I find them relaxing, but in the end it all has to be on the computer to send to others." She pokes at my microphone.
"What's this bit?"
"I use that to talk to my friends."
"Some kinda spell?"
"No, we don't have magic the way you do although our science probably seems that way to you. That'll have to be after the electricity lesson though. For now, consider it akin to a whisper spell."
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