A Tuesday Evening Exercise

Describe a room in which something has just happened.  It could be that the curtains around the French windows are curling in the breeze because somebody has just made a rapid exit, or that some china has been smashed as the result of a heated argument, or that the cushions on the sofa have been flattened by an amorous encounter, or a murder, or both.

Concentrate on the visual appearance of the room, but focus in on details that will generate an atmosphere and beg questions. The suggestion of action can be as potent a motor of the plot as witnessing the action itself.

 

The same sense of mystery is present in an unopenable door...