Xitra_Blud
Sage
Do you guys describe the clothes that each or any of your characters are wearing? Do you think it's important to?
Do you guys describe the clothes that each or any of your characters are wearing? Do you think it's important to?
Do you guys describe the clothes that each or any of your characters are wearing? Do you think it's important to?
if ever I write a book on writing, I will want to ask to quote you. Very nicely said! "It is your bully, in my story." Yes.For my writing, I approach description of anything in two ways:
1) The level of description correlates to the object's importance.
2) Details are a framework.
The first of those is self-explanatory, so I won't go further there. The second, "Details are a Framework" deserves elaboration.
My goal is to always have readers feel like active participants in the story. There are several says to accomplish this & one of the most effective lies in the use of description.
All of us have experiences and memories which are unique. If I, as the writer, can draw upon those individual experiences to fill in details of a framework that I provide, the images rendered by the reader should (in theory) seem more real.
For example, think of a bully from your past. We all know one. If I were writing a scene on a school playground and described detail upon detail of the bully's clothes, hair, complexion, etc. it will be less likely to match the idea of a schoolyard bully that you, the reader, knows. If however, I can offer a few powerful details, leaving the rest up to you to fill in, the image you create in "the movie playing in your head" will be shared. It's your bully, molded into my story. I think that makes it more powerful.
I also believe it's more immersive because it actively engages the reader by calling upon their memories & experiences, assimilating them into the characters & setting instead of the writer providing it all in a spoon fed manner.
So, when it comes to something like clothing, I'd first ask myself "Is the clothing important? Does it warrant greater detail or is the clothing relevant to story or character?" If yes, I may use elaborate description. If no, I will give a couple key details, then let the reader do the rest of the work.
She moved to the foot of the great staircase and slipped off her bag and coat, her third coat this week, leaving them on the last step. She gave the coat a small scowl. She had rubbed at it with a napkin in the car, but she was fairly sure she had gotten sick on it somewhere. Her dry cleaning bill this week was going to be ugly.