Crafting a Story : Setting

The setting’s random word is:

Powder can mean a whole range of things, but after a little while, I settled on flour. A powdery substance created by milling grain. An interesting mill would be either a windmill or a waterwheel. Let’s go with waterwheel for now.

Since waterwheels aren’t really used for milling any more, I think it should be an old house in the woods that someone left Henry in a will. In other words, Henry gets the house and drives there to check it out. Maybe he wants to sell it later, or maybe he has fond memories. Either way, he’s going there and the main part of the story will happen there.

Maybe the person who left the place to Henry – say, an uncle – was a handy person and upgraded the waterwheel into an electricity generator. Thus, the electricity comes directly from the house itself. I don’t know if it can power a whole house, but let’s say there is a river rapid behind the house that increases the electricity generated.

Thus, we have a house, attached to and powered by a waterwheel, standing alongside rapids. It is an old house, maybe some floorboards could break. Either way, there are at least three ways Henry could get hurt thus far: The waterwheel itself (if something breaks and he goes to check it), the old house that could collapse/break under him, and the rapids behind the house (where he could possibly fall into).

I’m not sure why the house is connected to Irwin’s ghost, but the catalyst and inciting incident will provide more clues as to why.

Let’s say it is far away from civilisation and inside a forest. Maybe Henry had to walk (leaving his car somewhere – a town just before the forest, maybe) a long way to get there - thus a long way back.

That’s all for setting for now. Next week is the inciting incident.

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