Greetings, writers.
I often struggle with writing descriptions. The right word won’t always come when bidden, and it can be hard to chart a middle course between dull description and purple prose. And I’m frequently impressed when I read the work of others (including some of our regulars, as well as the pros) and spot a well-turned phrase that, however much I admire it, I have to concede I would never have come up with on my own.
Recently I was watching some TV and movies, and a thought struck me. Screenwriters have it easy compared to novelists. They have an entire art department, whole teams of people devoted to bringing their words and worlds to life. From art directors to set dressers to prop masters and production designers, a screenwriter can write something as simple as:
INT. POLICE STATION
Detective Inspector Kip Glaspie steps out of the interrogation room and huddles with her partner who was watching the interview through one-way glass.
And a whole team of people will swing into action to make that set look like a real, honest-to-god British police station. If you’re an essayist, novelist, or short story writer, you have to paint a picture with words to show the reader a convincing police station.
Don’t know what items should be on a proper DI’s desk, or how to describe them to your readers? Doesn’t matter. The set dresser and prop master have you covered.
William Goldman wrote in one of his books of memoirs that to have a successful movie there were seven people (or groups of people) who had to excel at their jobs. As best I can remember, it was the writer, the director, the actors, the cinematographer, the production designer, the composer, and the editor. There are a lot more people involved in even a small film production than that, of course, but if those seven aren’t all at the top of their game, the project has little chance of success.
As a writer, you’re responsible for most of those jobs. To some extent, the reader’s imagination will help out with the camera work, hair and makeup, and special effects, but you must not only write and direct, you have to scout the locations, design the look of the production, cast the actors, populate the scene with props and extras, give them period-appropriate costumes, and be the art director for the whole shebang.
Vimeo defines these jobs on a film crew as follows:
The Production Designer works closely with the Director of Photography (DP) and director to help create the visual appearance of the film, including all settings, costumes, makeup, etc.
The Art Director helps determine the overall look of the production design and pretty much everything you see on screen. On a smaller crew, this is also the Set Designer.
The Props Master is in charge of finding and keeping track of all the props that appear on screen to add authenticity.
No wonder I find writing so exhausting! I’m doing the job of a whole passel of people!
One thing that is blissfully inexpensive: Special Effects.
I have a friend who has done art for comic books, and he often wonders why more stories aren’t done as graphic novels, because the cost to have a dragon ravaging through midtown Manhattan is about the same as the cost to have a taxi driving down the street: either way, an artist just has to draw it, and a dragon doesn’t necessarily take a lot more effort than a taxi.
Take this scene for example:
A huge, ancient, red dragon dive-bombs the Empire State Building. The Mighty Thor strides onto the balcony. Spinning Mjolnir above his head to gain momentum, he meets its fiery gaze with a look of grim determination. Then, when the dragon draws back its head, he flings himself into the air and hurtles towards it, just as the tyrant lizard’s maw gapes open to breathe fire. A gout of flame rushes at him but is deflected by the Asgardian’s hammer, and he crashes into the enormous beast, knocking it unconscious. The fifty-ton lizard and Odin’s son fall, together, toward the gawking masses crowding the streets below...
To shoot that as a live-action movie would cost — well, more than my home is worth. But the total cost for me to write it? Bupkis. Okay, it was crap, but at least it didn’t cost anything. The point is, you may have to make it happen in your stories — you don’t have teams of animators and CGI geniuses working for you — but you can make anything happen. If you can describe it.
Cover photo credit: Chris Murray at Unsplash. License: Creative Commons CC0.
Thank you to Sensible Shoes for Write On! and to strawbale, Clio2, & bonetti for filling in for the last three weeks, and to Leo Orionis who will be filling in next week. SenSho will return the week after.
Tonight’s Challenge:
Consider a scene from your current work, or one using any Write On! stock characters and situations (transom alligators optional). Take a scene that is flat and lifeless and could use some punching up. Now take a step back and ask yourself what an art director, production designer, costumer, set dresser, or prop master might add to the scene to give it verisimilitude, historical accuracy, or just general pizzazz.
Here’s the beginning of a scene you could start with, if you don’t have one to use in mind:
A callow youth and her stout companion walk into the Startled Duck. They have come here to meet The Man in Black, who claims to be in possession of a clue that could lead them to the fabled Lost Jewel of Togwogmagog.
There is a hubbub of voices from a corner of the room, but the callow youth ignores them and heads to the bar, and her stout companion follows.
She asks after the Man in Black. The barkeep nods to a table in the corner….
Now write that spiced-up scene. Try to limit yourself to no more than a couple hundred words.
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