1. I was taught a really bare-bones, stripped down kind of writing, so I usually keep metaphors and similes to a minimum. Literal language can be really punchy and elegant on its own, and I find when I'm not reaching for figurative language, the figures I do come up with are a little more memorable. When I can swing it, I like to use metonymy, showing a small part of something that is literally true, but also represents a much bigger picture that the reader can infer.
If I have a POV character, I try to keep in mind what terms are available to them. So Scrapper might think of someone hard to read as a part of a blueprint that doesn't fit, and Kickback might think of them as a cube of fuel you don't realize is rancid until you bite into it, things like that.
2. This is something I struggle with too. When I pare down the description of emotions, I'm never sure that I'm getting them across. One thing that helps me is to kind of act out the scene. Like, put myself in the character's headspace and imagine what I'd do in their situation, then think of how to describe what I just did. Another helpful thing is, if they have any good, emotive scenes in canon (and let's be real, in this fandom that's a big if), to rewatch those and see if they have any characteristic gestures or habits.
3. I definitely know this feel. If I didn't make myself describe the surroundings, most of my stories would probably take place in a featureless void. This is another thing where having a POV character makes things easier, because then I can just report what they notice. Like if they're in a new or alien room, its most striking features, or if they're somewhere familiar, that it's like it always is, or it's changed in X, Y, and Z ways.
It's harder when I'm using an omniscient third person narrator. I usually try to put a sentence or two of description whenever I move the action to a new location, and keep it to a sentence or two. I try to think of what the state of the room conveys as well as what it is. So like, "The room was tidy; it wasn't much lived in," vs. "Magnus had kept the room clean."
I'm going to be watching these comments, because I could definitely use some advice too!
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2013-07-02 01:02 pm (UTC)If I have a POV character, I try to keep in mind what terms are available to them. So Scrapper might think of someone hard to read as a part of a blueprint that doesn't fit, and Kickback might think of them as a cube of fuel you don't realize is rancid until you bite into it, things like that.
2. This is something I struggle with too. When I pare down the description of emotions, I'm never sure that I'm getting them across. One thing that helps me is to kind of act out the scene. Like, put myself in the character's headspace and imagine what I'd do in their situation, then think of how to describe what I just did. Another helpful thing is, if they have any good, emotive scenes in canon (and let's be real, in this fandom that's a big if), to rewatch those and see if they have any characteristic gestures or habits.
3. I definitely know this feel. If I didn't make myself describe the surroundings, most of my stories would probably take place in a featureless void. This is another thing where having a POV character makes things easier, because then I can just report what they notice. Like if they're in a new or alien room, its most striking features, or if they're somewhere familiar, that it's like it always is, or it's changed in X, Y, and Z ways.
It's harder when I'm using an omniscient third person narrator. I usually try to put a sentence or two of description whenever I move the action to a new location, and keep it to a sentence or two. I try to think of what the state of the room conveys as well as what it is. So like, "The room was tidy; it wasn't much lived in," vs. "Magnus had kept the room clean."
I'm going to be watching these comments, because I could definitely use some advice too!