: Best way to convey an immediate change of scenery Okay, bear with me. Think of it like this: My character is stuck in an situation whereby every time he sleeps, he wakes up at a different

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The waking trigger could be different each time. Present: annoying alarm clock buzz. Past: Cuckoo clock chiming. Way Past: Blacksmith's anvil. WayWay Past: Giant dragonfly buzzing. Future: Talking robot.

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Ceiling.

It's amazing how much and how little one can tell about their environment from observing the little piece of ceiling above their head. It's the first thing you see as you open your eyes (while sleeping on your back), and combining with Dale's answer, will give a clear and obvious sense of difference: while you can hear birds that weren't there, or your roommate started working on a soundtrack for a movie, it's damn hard to replace your apartment roof with a canopy of giant ferns and horsetails, or a dome with view on ocean from below. Additionally, after waking up your eyes focus slowly, and your brain goes up to speed slowly too, so you may skimp on detail or expand them (mentioning glaze on eyes and haze in mind) as you see fit, to differentiate between just "different" and describing what place that actually is.

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Get down inside the character's head and focus on sensory details.

Write what the character sees, hears, smells, feels, tastes.

Write what he thinks about those sensory details. Pay particular attention to any details that the character has an opinion about.

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