Hello, writers. Next week, July 19, Write On! will be hosted by the redoubtable mettle fatigue.
The past week hasn’t been as hot as the week before, but it’s still mostly been too hot to write. Part of what makes it difficult is that my characters have just entered a very cold place, where they’ll remain for the rest of the book— another 35,000 words or so.
I’m finding it very hard to write a cold place right now. So I’ve been jotting down notes to remind myself of how to put characters --and readers— into a place.
Limiting the amount of detail is important, as we’ve discussed on here before. Three good details that really jump out at the reader are always better than 20 pedestrian, unsurprising details. Even writing just one good detail is better than writing 20 dull ones.
Dull details hide the good ones, so that the reader doesn’t notice them.
Trust the reader to build the rest of the scene in his or her mind, with just a few details to go on. You do this all the time when you read.
It’s okay to start out with too many details, but on the revision, cut down to just the most evocative ones.
Then, too, make sure you describe the setting in motion. Don’t stop the action to describe the setting. Keep the action going as you move through the setting. (This may not mean actual walking or running; it could be eating a meal or struggling to get into too-tight shoes.)
Tonight’s challenge:
Think of a setting that’s very different from where you are right now. Jot down 10 things you would see, smell, hear, see, read, taste, fear, or feel in that setting.
Now decide why a character, any character, would be in that setting. What would s/he be trying to do?
In 150 words, show him or her trying to do that thing. Mention just 3 of the 10 scene-setting things (sights, sounds, etc) that you wrote down on your list.
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