Feb 27
2010

A little bit about descriptions in a novel or a short story.

When I write, I have to have an extremely clear picture in my head of what the characters look like. I picture the events unfolding in my mind as I write, so without clear faces, I’m just moving puppets around. But I try to be careful and restrain myself from getting  too descriptive. There’s a line where you have to cut off what you as the writer see and let the reader’s imagination take over. Otherwise you’re just casting the hopeful future movie someone makes of the book (cough, Dan Brown).

Of course, that’s just my stance. I thought I’d post this and see what others thought. How much do you want to know what the writer sees, and how much do you want to do the casting yourself? The basics are probably generally accepted; if a character is tall and athletic, or if they’re brunette or blonde.

This concludes Saturday ramblings. ~g~ I still have a runny nose, but I’m feeling imminently better. I would cheer the benefits of the pharmaceutical industry, but I get enough spam about miracle drugs anyway. I’ll probably get more just for using the “d” word. Oh, well.

Hope everyone is having a good day, whether they’re buried in snow or bracing for a tsunami. What a weekend…