SETTING THESAURUS

RANCH



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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:
A wide open pasture criss-crossed with animal trails
A long dirt or gravel road with cattle guards and fencing 
Winding creeks or rivers
Dusty ground and clumps of wild grass
Bushes, brambles, thistles, and wildflowers
Dust puffing under hooves and boots during dry months
Tall trees heavy with leaves
Blueberry, cranberry, gooseberry, blackberry, and other bushes
Leaning wood posts and barbed wire fences
Round bales of hay
Chaff and dust floating in the sunlight in the barn
Cows, sheep, horses, and other grazing livestock
Wild animals on the fringes (deer, rabbits, prairie dogs and gophers, snakes, raccoons)
A large barn stocked with hay bales, pitchforks, shovels, grapples, brands, coils of rope, shotguns, cats, mice, feed buckets, and pails
Rusty gas barrels and a pump station
A tractor and other equipment
Farm tools and old tires stacked near a shed
Rusted chains lying in piles
A stable for horses that contains curry combs, salt licks, bags of grain, water hoses, food troughs, and secured gates
A cow shed with piles of manure, straw on the ground, feed troughs, and water barrels
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SOUNDS:
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SMELLS:
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TASTES:
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TEXTURES AND SENSATIONS:
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POSSIBLE SOURCES OF CONFLICT:
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PEOPLE COMMONLY FOUND IN THIS SETTING:
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SETTING NOTES AND TIPS:
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SETTING DESCRIPTION EXAMPLE:
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TECHNIQUES AND DEVICES USED:
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DESCRIPTIVE EFFECTS:
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