SETTING THESAURUS

BASEMENT



Never struggle with Show-and-Tell again. Activate your free trial or subscribe to view the Setting Thesaurus in its entirety, or visit the Table of Contents to explore unlocked entries.

CHOOSE MY PLAN

HELPFUL TIP:

Settings should always be chosen with care. Consider the emotion you want your viewpoint character to feel and how setting choices, weather elements, and symbolism might build a specific mood in the scene, create tension and conflict, or even raise the stakes.
SIGHTS:
Wooden steps descending into the dark
A cement floor with mildew spiderwebbed across it
A floor drain
A bare bulb light with a pull string
A scraped-up washing machine and dryer sitting against the wall
A shelf holding laundry soap and stain removers
Small grimy windows with dead flies on the sill
Old boxes and crates filled with memorabilia (decorations, keepsakes, books, and other collectibles)
Recycling bins
Ugly mismatched furniture waiting to be refurbished or repaired
Packed-full utility shelves (laden with canned foods, preserves, cases of light bulbs, toilet paper, and other bulk household supplies)
A laundry tub or sink
A pile of rags
A trash can full of old dryer sheets and lint clumps
Shadowy corners behind piles of boxes
A jumbled row of paint cans
Spiders spinning webs in the corners or crawling into the rusty floor drain
Bare beams and pink insulation
Pipes running across the open ceiling
A grungy mat placed in front of the washer and dryer
...

SOUNDS:
...

SMELLS:
...

TASTES:
...

TEXTURES AND SENSATIONS:
...

POSSIBLE SOURCES OF CONFLICT:
...

PEOPLE COMMONLY FOUND IN THIS SETTING:
...

SETTING NOTES AND TIPS:
...

...

SETTING DESCRIPTION EXAMPLE:
...

TECHNIQUES AND DEVICES USED:
...

DESCRIPTIVE EFFECTS:
...