• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About
    • About WHW
    • Press Kit
    • Resident Writing Coaches
    • Contact Us
    • Podcasts & Interviews
    • WHW Newsletter
    • Guest Post Guidelines
    • Privacy Policy
    • Charities & Support
  • Bookstore
    • Bookstore
    • Foreign Editions
    • Book Reviews
    • Free Thesaurus Sampler
  • Blog
  • Software
  • Workshops
  • Resources
    • List of Resources
    • Recommended Writing Books
    • Find your Favorite Descriptive Thesaurus
    • Build Your Tookit
    • Grab A Free Show-Dont-Tell Pro Pack
  • WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

Helping writers become bestselling authors

Secret Setting Thesaurus Entry: Antiques Shop

Congratulations, intrepid explorer! You’ve discovered one of our SECRET Setting Thesaurus entries.

 

Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000046_00072]

This one is from The Urban Setting Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to City Spaces. We hope the sensory information below will add a deeper richness to your story.

The setting is a powerful storytelling element that, when fully utilized, elevates every scene. When you choose the right one, it becomes an emotional tuning fork that will impact your character’s behavior, actions, and decisions.

Not only that, the setting can characterize your story’s cast, steer the plot, provide challenges and conflict, evoke mood, and become a gateway for critical backstory, delivering it not in dumps but actively through the placement of symbols that act as emotional triggers.

Fleuron

ANTIQUES SHOP

SIGHTS

A vintage welcome sign, narrow walking aisles with table displays on both sides, sunlight glimmering off silver and crystal, oil paintings in elaborately carved frames hanging on the walls, a display of gilded mirrors worn with age or partly de-silvered, antique wood cabinets (filled with dainty figurines, collectible plates, china cups, thimble collections), display surfaces covered in knickknacks and antique costume jewelry, intricate handmade floor rugs hanging from display clips, glittering crystal chandeliers and lamps dangling overhead, rusted and paint-distressed signs from iconic businesses (Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Gerber), statues, masks and carvings from different cultures and countries, exotic wood jewelry and cigar boxes with polished stone inlays, hand-carved dressers with slightly warped drawers, a collection of framed black and white portraits, pitted metal oil lanterns, carved and lacquered chairs, stained glass pieces, dolls, collector buttons, coins and wartime paraphernalia (medals, propaganda posters, pistols, clothing, berets), silver and bronze candlesticks, old chests with worn leather straps, vintage hair brushes, shaving razors, folding knives, clocks, clothing, lace, old farm tools and washboards, wooden spindles, sewing machines, crates of records, handcrafted cushions with silky fringes, vases, musical instruments, grandfather clocks, stacks of vintage books and comics, watches, old cameras, salt shaker collections, religious statuettes and symbols lining mantels and bookcases, a crowded front counter with rare items under glass, a cash register and receipt pads, a jar of pens, a passionate storeowner discussing pieces and their history

Sounds

The chime of bells as the shop door opens, voices of customers discussing pieces, the tick of a grandfather clock, vintage records playing in the background, a chord ringing out as a customer tests an old guitar, out-of-tune notes from a piano, floorboards creaking, soft clinks and thumps as items are sorted or moved, a creak of hinges as a cabinet or trunk is opened, the scrape of a warped desk drawer pulling open, gasps of surprise or wonder, the crinkle and rustle of paper as purchases are carefully wrapped

Smells

Oil paint, wood, lacquer, musty cloth, potpourri, leather, paper, dust

Tastes

Peppermints from a complimentary bowl on the counter, gum or other items brought into the store by customers (although most places actively discourage food and drink)

TEXTURES AND SENSATIONS

The uneven texture of chipped paint on a distressed cabinet or mirror frame, lacquered wood, satiny brocades and fabrics from furniture cushions, crisp starched lace, the pitted roughness of cast metal, glazed figurines that are cold to the touch, bumping a table or chest with one’s hip, moving from a hard wood floor to a plush rug, the papery feel of money in the hands as one pays for an item, fingering lace or cloth to gain a sense of quality, running fingers over decorative inlays on serving trays or cigar boxes, the cold weight of a brass candlestick in one’s hand, feeling the notches on a carved mask, sliding one’s fingertips over the wood grain of a handmade chessboard or humidor

antiques-shop

POSSIBLE SOURCES OF CONFLICT

  • A break-in
  • Discovering a haunted object
  • An earthquake or nearby building construction shaking valuables and causing breakage
  • Finding an object that belongs to one’s family but the owner refuses to sell
  • Scouring for a collectable only to have someone else snap it up first
  • Accidentally knocking something over that is quite valuable
  • Faulty wiring that starts a fire
  • Discovering a fake art piece
  • Being sold an antique that has been carefully reconditioned yet one was told it was in its original condition
  • Someone wanting to sell something that is taboo, such as a Nazi uniform or a carved rhinoceros horn

PEOPLE COMMONLY FOUND HERE

Antique dealers, customers, delivery people, employees, sellers looking to trade heirlooms for quick cash, the store owner or manager, window shoppers

RELATED SETTINGS THAT MAY TIE IN WITH THIS ONE

  • Art gallery, pawn shop, thrift store

SETTING NOTES AND TIPS 

Antiques stores may be a hodgepodge of anything and everything, or they may specialize in certain time periods or types of antiques. Some stores are laid out so furniture and displays are grouped by room (kitchen antiques piled on an old pot-bellied stove and kitchen nook, for example), while others are arranged by theme (World War II memorabilia, etc.). If you’re attempting to utilize antiques in your story, choose those that offer symbolism opportunities for your character, giving meaning to the challenges or personal issues he or she must face.

 SETTING DESCRIPTION EXAMPLE

The doll didn’t belong here. She was clearly a German doll from the 1800s, but while the other pre-war toys in the cabinet appeared worn and well loved, she did not. Her pale face and blue glass eyes held a chill that discouraged physical contact. She sat off to the side, away from the other toys, although Alice remembered placing her between the wooden blocks and the hand-carved marionette. The customers had starting asking about a curious smell when they were near the cabinet—the smell of fabric burning. One person had crossed herself after mentioning it, saying she felt watched by the doll. So she’d moved her into the glass case. It was nonsense, of course. Yet as she stood here, Alice did get a whiff of a faint smoky odor. She rubbed her arms, then stopped when she realized what she was doing. Good grief, listening to superstitious old ladies now? Her smile waivered. Still, it might not hurt to lower the doll’s price and see if she couldn’t encourage someone to buy it.

  • Techniques and Devices Used: Contrast, multisensory descriptions
  • Resulting Effects: Establishing mood, foreshadowing, hinting at backstory, tension and conflict

A WORD FROM THE AUTHORS

To use this setting to the fullest, think about how this store might bring more depth to the story line and help steer your character’s emotions. In an antiques shop, there are ample items that you could place on the shelves to trigger memories, good or bad, for your character. A store like this would also provide opportunities for him or her to interact with an object, allowing you to slip in tactile description that will bring readers in closer to your POV character through the sensation of touch.

Want to work with a setting thesaurus that is beautifully cross-referenced, hyperlinked, and accessible online at the click of a button?

Sounds like a dream, right? Why not take a tour of One Stop For Writers, where this descriptive thesaurus and 15 others are waiting for you. (Did we mention there’s a FREE TRIAL?)

Happy writing!

Angela and Becca

PSST!

Here are a few more secret settings to visit: House Party, Ancient Ruins, and Police Car.

Image: Skitterphoto @ pixabay

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar


Welcome!

Writing is hard. Angela & Becca make it easier. Get ready to level up your fiction with game-changing tools, resources, and advice.

Follow Us

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Subscribe to the Blog

Check your inbox to confirm! If gremlins tried to eat it, you might have to check your spam folder.

Read by Category

Grab Our Button

Writers Helping Writers

Software that Will Change the Writing Game

One Stop for Writers

WRITERS HELPING WRITERS® · Copyright © 2022 · WEBSITE DESIGN BY LAUGH EAT LEARN

Cookies are delicious and ours help make your experience here better. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with our cookie use. Cookie settingsGOT IT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. More on our Privacy Policy here.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT
 

Loading Comments...
 

    loading Cancel
    Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
    Email check failed, please try again
    Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.