~Hakurei Shrine~ > Patchouli's Scarlet Library
Welcome to PSL: Hatate's Writer's Lounge ~ Rules, info and general discussion!
Joveus Molai:
Something I've found to be helpful:
Consulting visual media, in particular comics/manga, can be a useful tool for figuring out how to convey a scene via showing rather than telling--at least in my experience. Since comics can only use a minimal amount of dialogue (i.e. text) outside of exposition to convey information, and since comics are a visual medium, they have to use a great deal of showing rather than telling, and imagining a given scene in a textual medium in comic form is an handy way to figure out what to show (elements of the scene to describe), what to say (the dialogue), and what to tell (abstract information that is less descriptive and more explanatory or expository).
For example, let's say you have a scene where Alice is yelling at Marisa about something. You're trying to convey the idea that Alice is primarily angry, but also flustered and embarrassed, while Marisa is in a trolling mood rather than feeling guilty or remorseful. If you're having trouble figuring out what to show, what to say, and what to tell, imagine the scene as in a comic, which might look like this:
Overall scene: Alice and Marisa at a table in Alice's house.
Panel 1:
Alice is...
-Bolting up out of her chair
-Facial expression = scowl, but also holds a deep red blush
-Gritting her teeth
-Right hand is jabbing towards Marisa
-Left is balled up and trembling
-Maybe Shanghai is floating around Alice's shoulder, also looking rather cross
-Tense body language
Dialogue: "Damn it Marisa! You promised you wouldn't tell anyone!"
Panel 2:
Marisa is...
-Lounging on a chair
-Doesn't meet Alice's gaze, is looking at something else
-Casually munching on a snack, or sipping tea
-Shit-eating grin and/or giant troll face
-Relaxed body language
Dialogue: "Oh, did I? I can't seem to remember..."
Once you've visualized the scene in comic form as above, pick some, or perhaps all, of the above elements and write some prose around it. For example...
She bolted out of her chair, scowling yet also blushing. "Damn it Marisa!" said Alice, jabbing an accusing finger at the black-white witch, "You promised you wouldn't tell anyone!" Her other hand trembled as she gripped it tight.
Marisa casually inspected some dolls sitting on a shelf. "Oh did I? I can't seem to remember..." She shot Alice a grin as she sat back in her chair, chewing noisily on a pastry all the while.
Granted, comics/manga have certain visual tricks that would be pointless to replicate in pure text, but nonetheless, if you're trying to show a scene, trying to imagine how a comic would do it then going from there might help. If nothing else, it can serve as a useful visualizing tool.
Iced Fairy:
That can be a useful trick Joveus. The big thing to remember is that writing isn't a script. One of the big early mistakes a lot of people make is writing a very long four koma script instead of a story. Use visualization to get sentences, but never forget flow.
Joveus Molai:
--- Quote from: Iced Fairy on October 05, 2013, 04:34:57 AM ---That can be a useful trick Joveus. The big thing to remember is that writing isn't a script. One of the big early mistakes a lot of people make is writing a very long four koma script instead of a story. Use visualization to get sentences, but never forget flow.
--- End quote ---
Ah yes, Iced is correct: while the above trick is handy for trying to visualize a given moment in a scene, you shouldn't use that trick for every sentence. Apply the trick (if you must) only when actually describing the visual aspects of a scene is necessary.
Nicktendonick:
Hey there everyone.
I wasn't sure where to ask this, and I'd figure this is the best place to start that conversation.
How many people here have editors or beta/prereaders? How does one find such people (Because I'm looking for one) and how's your interactions/how effective is this?
TwilightsCall:
^ Over a month late, but I don't have any beta readers, so I don't really have much to add :x It's definitely something I'm considering for my next work, but I haven't decided for sure.
On another topic, while looking up stuff for NaNoWriMo the other day, I came across this website:
http://www.writingexcuses.com/
It consists of 15 minute podcasts done by some rather successful (at least, the ones who participate that I know are rather successful) authors who talk about a variety of story-building tips, as well as general writing advice. I've listened to a good number of their clips over the past couple days (probably too many, to be honest, as I should really be writing instead :x), and I find their talks incredibly insightful and definitely useful. If you were looking for something to get you in the mood for writing, or are lucky enough to have a problem they've discussed already (they've had 8 seasons, so its not that unlikely), I would definitely recommend checking it out!
(PS More brackets because rereading this post I've decided I haven't used enough of them)