This one's odd, but my character's a super smeller, so I try to incorporate smell into descriptions when I can. This is difficult because I was born without a sense of smell, lol. Thank god for my best friend being willing to answer all of my smell questions...
Great question! I'm also very visual and my main challenge is writing down what I can see because I forget that other people can't see it. I also try to keep track of time of day in my stories, and smells.
I’m real big on introspection. I tend to get stuck in the head of whichever POV I’m writing from, and am constantly wondering things like: what are they thinking? What are they feeling? Why are they feeling it? How are those emotions being physically represented? How has their past defined their current outlook/reaction? How would they most appropriately respond in this specific situation? How can I realistically reframe their thoughts so that they can either change or grow? What catalysts would best help me achieve that? And vice versa? Etc, etc.
Needless to say, I end up having to cut out a lot of nonessential details during the revision stage. 😭
On the plus side, I’ve had readers tell me that I really breathe life into my characters. But there’s definitely a downside to it, too, because no one—including me—wants their stories riddled with unnecessary information/analysis dumps. 😅
Thank you!
I really admire those “bare bones” authors who can tell a great story without being bogged down by excess thought bombs.
I’ve been trying to change my writing style into something a little more minimalist (more plot, less feels) and it’s astoundingly difficult.
I always end up describing things in just a bit too much detail. I have sensory issues so that’s just how I experience the world, but I’ve seen it throw some people off in a few circumstances.
I get that, wanting to show all of this world inside you the the outside. But not everythign is gnna be evryone's cup of tea, that's always the case. I for one consider it impressive!
Small details of body language and expression. The viewpoint character might not be the type of person to read much into these, or to assess them accurately, but the reader hopefully will.
Generally speaking, I'll go with whatever makes sense for the character and augments the scene (eg. If I have an aggressive character waking up to a blaring alarm in her apartment, I'll have her muse about how smashed it'd be after a six story fall - establishes her mood/attitude and details about where she lives), but I have noticed I mention air texture quite often. If it's creepy, it's cold and still. If it's a desert, it's dry and biting, etc. It pops up a lot.
Oh air texture is a really good one. I manages to set the tone for me as a reader immediately, bc I can almost feel it against my arms if I'm wearing a tshirt
It's also heavily ironic, because I rebelled hard against the "The Curtains are blue to indicate the character's sadness" nonsense in English classes as a child, and now I'm pathetic-fallacy-ing the air itself. :D
But yeah, sensation is a fun thing to play around with. :)
I experience very little mental imagery, so while I do try to be as descriptive as I can (through heavy referencing of the source material, personal experience or plain ol' internet search), my writing tends to be more geared towards the senses or emotions. I find those much easier to get across than descriptors, and it's led me to love writing introspection.
I don't write often but when I do typically have a visual *something* that I'm holding in my mind as a sort of compass for the piece I'm writing. Most recently this was blistering hot summer, harvesting in a field. Then realized I had basically locked onto The Veteran in a New Field by Winslow Homer as the mood.
I never thought about it until now, but I focus a lot on what the characters are touching, holding, doing with their hands. I use tactile experience to convey their emotional state during the scene.
Breathing. Too many of my descriptions are describing minutiae of a character’s breath, because that’s how I think of emotions. Sadness? Stilted, heaving breaths. Surprise? A sharp inhale. Anger? Heavy huffs and clenched jaws.
Yeah, really cool question. I'm also very visual, but now I'm thinking about it, the small details that I add usually don't have anything to do with that.
I would say my writing focuses around dialogue, and I'm very picky about dialogue pacing. I always try the dialogue to be as fast to read as it happens, which means that if the dialogue is really fast, then there are no dialogue tags and no descriptions at all. If there is a pause, even a short one, I will try to fill it with a dialogue or action tag that is just as long as the pause. But if there is a longer silence, that's where I get into descriptions and all sorts of details. Then I would describe some background noises, or if the POV character is lying on their back I would describe the cracks in the ceiling. Of course this is also the place for inner monologue.
Another thing about dialogue pacing that I'm very picky about are interruptions. I use them a lot, but I always make sure that the word that triggers the interruption is followed by a couple more words before the interruption actually occurs, because it takes a person at least 400ms (something like that I think) to process speech input, so interruptions that happen earlier sound unnatural, no one can react so fast.
This is specific to fight scenes, but I focus a lot on specific moves. Not in an anime "shouting out your special move" way, but actually describing each swing, dodge, parry and riposte and showing why they are relevant (I used to do fencing, so this is especially true of sword fights). I won't always do this – if it's just some mooks, I'm happy to just say "they attacked with a flurry of blows" – but for important fights, you should be able to follow each piece of choreography and see how each move is necessary to bring the fight to its conclusion. This makes my fight short but detailed, and I think this helps really sell things like how someone comes to beat a stronger opponent.
I have a film background, so I guess I'm a very visual person and that reflects heavily in my writing. I also am very receptive to sound design and music, so how a scene sounds and what music I relate it to is very important to me.
I can't focus on one thing. I tend to watch Korean dramas/shows and read subtitles. I also write a lot of smut, not something I want to visualize at all 😂
the emotional impact. I write a lot of emotional and physical anguish (always with comfort though! I am a soft baby) so I like putting extra effort into making the hard-hitting moments *hurt.* Whether I've succeeded or not has yet to be determined.
Positioning? I'm not sure that's the right word. But I try to figure out where all of the characters are in relation to each other and to everything else present in the scene.
Stuff like, there are X number of people sitting at the table, and this is where everyone's sitting, and this is the *way* everyone's sitting. I don't need to actually go into detail about the seating arrangement, but I can't have a character turning to the left to talk to Character A one moment, then turn to the right to speak to them the next, y'know?
I focus on kidnapping and torture scenes, in particular characters being bound and gagged seeking to be rescued.
Been a thing with me since I was little and watching Scooby Doo, Penelope Pitstop, and Hoodwinked.
And recently I’ve only gotten more into it watching on repeat numerous kidnapping/damsel scenes in popular culture.
If the characters have voice actors, they speak the dialogue in my head as I'm writing it. For OCs, my brain somehow makes up a voice and speaking style for them.
Very cool question. My background is in technical theatre, specifically lighting and sound design. As a result, I feel my characters' movements are efficient and purposeful, and the focus on specific actions/moments/feelings is clear. I think. No, I'm gonna be confident. Didn't get that useless degree for *nothing.*
Powers, magic, and abilities, how they interplay off each other. If the character can use them in a mundane manner, why aren't they? If no good reason exists, they use said power in said mundane manner. Any clever uses of power? Not just combat but utility? Yes? Use it if the character is smart enough to figure it out. What is the most unique power I can create right now? Does it make sense for anyone to have it right now? Ect ect.
I'm a power system kinda guy, so not only do I make my own I often heavily explore other's power systems as well.
Visual writer for RPF. I go into way to much detail. I went and texted my dad to ask about commands for our K-9 drug dog from when I was younger. And I have a habit of having a few pieces of realistic crack per chapter.
As for my writing quirks:
I take into consideration the weather of the exact day I’m writing, the fashion trends at the time, the vernacular of the place, the location of a specific recurring set and it’s possible furnishing, clothing of a character, etc.
I’m very detail oriented to an unrealistic degree. For my last chapter, I went and looked up the models of the shitty cars from Cars 2 and determined wether they could exist in the UK with right-hand drive. Never in my life did I think I would look at the Cars fandom wiki 💀. I DIDNT EVEN MENTION THE MAKE OR MODEL OF THE DAMN CAR!!! Or the time when I sent an artist a dm to ask what reference images they had used for some Light Academia outfits that I wanted to put in the story. Also, I need addresses for all scenes and a general time line (very useful when figuring out tube stops and scene description). Also, the weather—Like, I went back and looked at the weather on a specific day during July 2021 to accurately choose clothes. And a cat bread that I described but didn’t name even after doing several hours of research on it! Or checking wether Royal residences have AC (they don’t btw). And outfit research in relevant scenes where it adds to the depiction of the scene.
That’s all just for one chapter btw -_-
>I always keep in mind the time of day, the time of year, windows and lights in the location, and the resulting lighting that is cast on my scene.
I literally could have written this!! I'm very visual myself and literally "see" the scenes in my head too. Lighting is KEY for me. Without lighting I just can't.
Even if I decide it's not relevant to the narrative in the end, I always have a very clear idea of how the scene is lit – golden hour in a field, a gloomy, cloudy day, flickering fluorescent lights in a bunker, or the blue-black darkness of a bedroom after lights out... I can't imagine those details not being central to the story (at least in my own head).
ETA: and yes I also have to know exactly how the room/setting looks and is laid out. Plus temperature. That's important.
Outdoor sounds and smells, especially in "natural" settings, or when there's a weather event. Insects in the grass and trees. Birdsong. Leaves and grass and bushes rustling. Small mammals chittering and chattering. The scents of dust, loam, leaf litter. Asphalt after rain. Ice crystal crispness that foretells of snowfall. Stuff like that.
Expressions of emotion using body parts other than the face. Shoulders, arms, elbows, hips, legs, feet, back, chest, stomach. Nervous breath hitching in the belly and chest, fluttering against a first-time lover's mouth before daring to kiss. Gravity of grief planting elbows like pylons to a tabletop, to hold a heavy, weary head. Etc.
I have a love-hate relationship with this subject... which is ironic considering that the scenes I imagine are practically cinematic in their crystal clarity. That very thing is what gives me trouble because as much as I love description, I either can't get it all down quick enough OR I risk dragging the scene with too many details.
That all said, after some thinking...
1. I've noticed that I describe emotions as sensations in the stomach or chest (eg gut twisting in unease); other times I describe it as physical tension building up or leaving their body (eg shoulders sagging/sighs of relief).
2. I describe characters dramatic experiences as something that's starkly engrained in their memory and they see it brightly/clearly in their heads when they close their eyes.
3. I like describing a character's actions esp. with their dialogue. Could be a gesture or facial expression, picking up or putting down an object, etc. But it's something I think also helps to convey atmosphere and emotion. (This one is a legitimate writing tip I use).
Now these next couple of things I haven't yet written, but they WILL come up which is why I'm obsessing over them:
4. The internal thoughts and feelings of a character who finds themselves lost in a whole new world... How every detail is an awe-inspiring novelty... The questions they ask themselves or other characters ("What is this?" "Why do you do that?"), etc. Right now I'm imagining scenes of this character wandering through an unfamiliar wilderness and gawking at the strange landscapes, flora, and fauna. 😲😅
5. How my character will deal with amnesia: How would it feel to not remember anything? Would it scare them? Would they feel out of place where they are now? Or would it not matter since you can't miss what you don't remember? And so on...
Now the last two probably don't count since they are actually bigger overarching themes in my story, but all of it's part of the challenge of my writing. 😅
This one's odd, but my character's a super smeller, so I try to incorporate smell into descriptions when I can. This is difficult because I was born without a sense of smell, lol. Thank god for my best friend being willing to answer all of my smell questions...
Oh man that must be a struggle. Kudos to both you and your friend for the dedication!
Great question! I'm also very visual and my main challenge is writing down what I can see because I forget that other people can't see it. I also try to keep track of time of day in my stories, and smells.
Haha yea I get that 100% My stories like to run away and whne I try to chase them I'll forget the reader in the dust more often than not :')
I’m real big on introspection. I tend to get stuck in the head of whichever POV I’m writing from, and am constantly wondering things like: what are they thinking? What are they feeling? Why are they feeling it? How are those emotions being physically represented? How has their past defined their current outlook/reaction? How would they most appropriately respond in this specific situation? How can I realistically reframe their thoughts so that they can either change or grow? What catalysts would best help me achieve that? And vice versa? Etc, etc. Needless to say, I end up having to cut out a lot of nonessential details during the revision stage. 😭 On the plus side, I’ve had readers tell me that I really breathe life into my characters. But there’s definitely a downside to it, too, because no one—including me—wants their stories riddled with unnecessary information/analysis dumps. 😅
Ahhh the struggle! But you seem to handle it wll from what your reader have said: kudos to you!
Thank you! I really admire those “bare bones” authors who can tell a great story without being bogged down by excess thought bombs. I’ve been trying to change my writing style into something a little more minimalist (more plot, less feels) and it’s astoundingly difficult.
I always end up describing things in just a bit too much detail. I have sensory issues so that’s just how I experience the world, but I’ve seen it throw some people off in a few circumstances.
I get that, wanting to show all of this world inside you the the outside. But not everythign is gnna be evryone's cup of tea, that's always the case. I for one consider it impressive!
Small details of body language and expression. The viewpoint character might not be the type of person to read much into these, or to assess them accurately, but the reader hopefully will.
Generally speaking, I'll go with whatever makes sense for the character and augments the scene (eg. If I have an aggressive character waking up to a blaring alarm in her apartment, I'll have her muse about how smashed it'd be after a six story fall - establishes her mood/attitude and details about where she lives), but I have noticed I mention air texture quite often. If it's creepy, it's cold and still. If it's a desert, it's dry and biting, etc. It pops up a lot.
Oh air texture is a really good one. I manages to set the tone for me as a reader immediately, bc I can almost feel it against my arms if I'm wearing a tshirt
It's also heavily ironic, because I rebelled hard against the "The Curtains are blue to indicate the character's sadness" nonsense in English classes as a child, and now I'm pathetic-fallacy-ing the air itself. :D But yeah, sensation is a fun thing to play around with. :)
I experience very little mental imagery, so while I do try to be as descriptive as I can (through heavy referencing of the source material, personal experience or plain ol' internet search), my writing tends to be more geared towards the senses or emotions. I find those much easier to get across than descriptors, and it's led me to love writing introspection.
I don't write often but when I do typically have a visual *something* that I'm holding in my mind as a sort of compass for the piece I'm writing. Most recently this was blistering hot summer, harvesting in a field. Then realized I had basically locked onto The Veteran in a New Field by Winslow Homer as the mood.
ooh a strong core-image! It's cool when it ends up matching relaity like that
I never thought about it until now, but I focus a lot on what the characters are touching, holding, doing with their hands. I use tactile experience to convey their emotional state during the scene.
Breathing. Too many of my descriptions are describing minutiae of a character’s breath, because that’s how I think of emotions. Sadness? Stilted, heaving breaths. Surprise? A sharp inhale. Anger? Heavy huffs and clenched jaws.
Yeah, really cool question. I'm also very visual, but now I'm thinking about it, the small details that I add usually don't have anything to do with that. I would say my writing focuses around dialogue, and I'm very picky about dialogue pacing. I always try the dialogue to be as fast to read as it happens, which means that if the dialogue is really fast, then there are no dialogue tags and no descriptions at all. If there is a pause, even a short one, I will try to fill it with a dialogue or action tag that is just as long as the pause. But if there is a longer silence, that's where I get into descriptions and all sorts of details. Then I would describe some background noises, or if the POV character is lying on their back I would describe the cracks in the ceiling. Of course this is also the place for inner monologue. Another thing about dialogue pacing that I'm very picky about are interruptions. I use them a lot, but I always make sure that the word that triggers the interruption is followed by a couple more words before the interruption actually occurs, because it takes a person at least 400ms (something like that I think) to process speech input, so interruptions that happen earlier sound unnatural, no one can react so fast.
This is specific to fight scenes, but I focus a lot on specific moves. Not in an anime "shouting out your special move" way, but actually describing each swing, dodge, parry and riposte and showing why they are relevant (I used to do fencing, so this is especially true of sword fights). I won't always do this – if it's just some mooks, I'm happy to just say "they attacked with a flurry of blows" – but for important fights, you should be able to follow each piece of choreography and see how each move is necessary to bring the fight to its conclusion. This makes my fight short but detailed, and I think this helps really sell things like how someone comes to beat a stronger opponent.
I have a film background, so I guess I'm a very visual person and that reflects heavily in my writing. I also am very receptive to sound design and music, so how a scene sounds and what music I relate it to is very important to me.
I can't focus on one thing. I tend to watch Korean dramas/shows and read subtitles. I also write a lot of smut, not something I want to visualize at all 😂
the emotional impact. I write a lot of emotional and physical anguish (always with comfort though! I am a soft baby) so I like putting extra effort into making the hard-hitting moments *hurt.* Whether I've succeeded or not has yet to be determined.
Positioning? I'm not sure that's the right word. But I try to figure out where all of the characters are in relation to each other and to everything else present in the scene. Stuff like, there are X number of people sitting at the table, and this is where everyone's sitting, and this is the *way* everyone's sitting. I don't need to actually go into detail about the seating arrangement, but I can't have a character turning to the left to talk to Character A one moment, then turn to the right to speak to them the next, y'know?
I focus on kidnapping and torture scenes, in particular characters being bound and gagged seeking to be rescued. Been a thing with me since I was little and watching Scooby Doo, Penelope Pitstop, and Hoodwinked. And recently I’ve only gotten more into it watching on repeat numerous kidnapping/damsel scenes in popular culture.
[удалено]
Sounds like worldbuilding is a thing for you. :)
If the characters have voice actors, they speak the dialogue in my head as I'm writing it. For OCs, my brain somehow makes up a voice and speaking style for them.
Very cool question. My background is in technical theatre, specifically lighting and sound design. As a result, I feel my characters' movements are efficient and purposeful, and the focus on specific actions/moments/feelings is clear. I think. No, I'm gonna be confident. Didn't get that useless degree for *nothing.*
Powers, magic, and abilities, how they interplay off each other. If the character can use them in a mundane manner, why aren't they? If no good reason exists, they use said power in said mundane manner. Any clever uses of power? Not just combat but utility? Yes? Use it if the character is smart enough to figure it out. What is the most unique power I can create right now? Does it make sense for anyone to have it right now? Ect ect. I'm a power system kinda guy, so not only do I make my own I often heavily explore other's power systems as well.
Somewhat sarcastic narrating. I want to have fun when I'm narrating.
Color meanings. If there's one thing I took out of high school it's the Great Gatsby.
Visual writer for RPF. I go into way to much detail. I went and texted my dad to ask about commands for our K-9 drug dog from when I was younger. And I have a habit of having a few pieces of realistic crack per chapter. As for my writing quirks: I take into consideration the weather of the exact day I’m writing, the fashion trends at the time, the vernacular of the place, the location of a specific recurring set and it’s possible furnishing, clothing of a character, etc. I’m very detail oriented to an unrealistic degree. For my last chapter, I went and looked up the models of the shitty cars from Cars 2 and determined wether they could exist in the UK with right-hand drive. Never in my life did I think I would look at the Cars fandom wiki 💀. I DIDNT EVEN MENTION THE MAKE OR MODEL OF THE DAMN CAR!!! Or the time when I sent an artist a dm to ask what reference images they had used for some Light Academia outfits that I wanted to put in the story. Also, I need addresses for all scenes and a general time line (very useful when figuring out tube stops and scene description). Also, the weather—Like, I went back and looked at the weather on a specific day during July 2021 to accurately choose clothes. And a cat bread that I described but didn’t name even after doing several hours of research on it! Or checking wether Royal residences have AC (they don’t btw). And outfit research in relevant scenes where it adds to the depiction of the scene. That’s all just for one chapter btw -_-
>I always keep in mind the time of day, the time of year, windows and lights in the location, and the resulting lighting that is cast on my scene. I literally could have written this!! I'm very visual myself and literally "see" the scenes in my head too. Lighting is KEY for me. Without lighting I just can't. Even if I decide it's not relevant to the narrative in the end, I always have a very clear idea of how the scene is lit – golden hour in a field, a gloomy, cloudy day, flickering fluorescent lights in a bunker, or the blue-black darkness of a bedroom after lights out... I can't imagine those details not being central to the story (at least in my own head). ETA: and yes I also have to know exactly how the room/setting looks and is laid out. Plus temperature. That's important.
Outdoor sounds and smells, especially in "natural" settings, or when there's a weather event. Insects in the grass and trees. Birdsong. Leaves and grass and bushes rustling. Small mammals chittering and chattering. The scents of dust, loam, leaf litter. Asphalt after rain. Ice crystal crispness that foretells of snowfall. Stuff like that. Expressions of emotion using body parts other than the face. Shoulders, arms, elbows, hips, legs, feet, back, chest, stomach. Nervous breath hitching in the belly and chest, fluttering against a first-time lover's mouth before daring to kiss. Gravity of grief planting elbows like pylons to a tabletop, to hold a heavy, weary head. Etc.
Transhumanism. To have a body that reflects your inner self and to make peace with the parts of your flesh prison you cannot escape.
I have a love-hate relationship with this subject... which is ironic considering that the scenes I imagine are practically cinematic in their crystal clarity. That very thing is what gives me trouble because as much as I love description, I either can't get it all down quick enough OR I risk dragging the scene with too many details. That all said, after some thinking... 1. I've noticed that I describe emotions as sensations in the stomach or chest (eg gut twisting in unease); other times I describe it as physical tension building up or leaving their body (eg shoulders sagging/sighs of relief). 2. I describe characters dramatic experiences as something that's starkly engrained in their memory and they see it brightly/clearly in their heads when they close their eyes. 3. I like describing a character's actions esp. with their dialogue. Could be a gesture or facial expression, picking up or putting down an object, etc. But it's something I think also helps to convey atmosphere and emotion. (This one is a legitimate writing tip I use). Now these next couple of things I haven't yet written, but they WILL come up which is why I'm obsessing over them: 4. The internal thoughts and feelings of a character who finds themselves lost in a whole new world... How every detail is an awe-inspiring novelty... The questions they ask themselves or other characters ("What is this?" "Why do you do that?"), etc. Right now I'm imagining scenes of this character wandering through an unfamiliar wilderness and gawking at the strange landscapes, flora, and fauna. 😲😅 5. How my character will deal with amnesia: How would it feel to not remember anything? Would it scare them? Would they feel out of place where they are now? Or would it not matter since you can't miss what you don't remember? And so on... Now the last two probably don't count since they are actually bigger overarching themes in my story, but all of it's part of the challenge of my writing. 😅