By: Nat
Russo
The
journey from world building to prose is a long and twisted one. We know what a
specific plaza in a specific city looks like. We have all of the elements:
weather, sound, objects, people, etc. But unless we put them together in some
kind of rational order and present them in a logical sequence, all we have are
pieces of a jigsaw puzzle scattered on a table. We need to employ structured
descriptions to allow the puzzle pieces to fall into place.
Collecting
The Pieces
You’ve
probably spent weeks, if not months, meticulously building your world and
outlining your plot. Or, perhaps, you’re a pantser (that breed
of writer who prefers exploratory writing with little “up front” outlining).
Either way you’re going to reach a point at which you have a collection of stuff that
you want to describe to the reader.
If
you’re anything like me, you learn best by example and practice. So let’s take
a look at a hypothetical example. We’re approaching a climactic scene involving
two ships doing battle. There are some people in a plaza that borders a dock
and they’re watching events unfold.
To
set the scene, we want to convey the following: ships, people, people’s
clothing, a dock, cannons firing, a storm, storm clouds, merchant booths, a
plaza, and a fountain in a plaza.
We
roll up our sleeves and start typing.
Shotgun
Approach…
Read the full article HERE!
~*~
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