Entering the darker places: The bleak hill-top in Wuthering Heights

Putting it all together

Let’s put this snippet back together.

On that bleak hill-top the earth was hard with a black frost, and the air made me shiver through every limb. Being unable to remove the chain, I jumped over, and, running up the flagged causeway bordered with straggling gooseberry-bushes, knocked vainly for admittance, till my knuckles tingled and the dogs howled.

Wuthering Heights(1847)

So what happens in this snippet?

In a tough place, somebody struggles to get access to something and fails.

See if you can write a paragraph that follows the same basic structure. To help you go clause by clause we can break the snippet down into smaller chunks:

To write something like this you need to choose a place, and an action that someone can fail at. Here are three examples:

  • Trying to leave a haunted apartment
  • Trying to find help in a creepy school
  • Trying to get into a cabin at a remote camp ground

By the shore of that frigid lake the ground was covered with black rocks, and the wind made my eyes and nose run. Being unable to drag the boat ashore, I abandoned it, and running up the wooden stairs that creaked perilously underfoot, called desperately for attention, till my voice went hoarse and a distant raven took flight.

In that grim laboratory the benchtops were sticky with a red film, and clouds of flies clung to my skin. Being unable to find anyone in the storeroom, I left again, and, walking down the deserted corridor between unlit classrooms, called hopelessly for assistance, till I came to a dull metal door labeled STAFF. 

In that dirty kitchen the air was thick with something rotten, and the flickering lights made my head ache. Being unable to unlock the front door, I opened a closet, and, tossing out armloads of blankets filled with scuttling cockroaches, banged fruitlessly on the wall, trying to wake the neighbours, till my knuckles were raw and somewhere a tiny dog began to bark.

Try writing your own scene with an isolated character trying and failing to get assistance.
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