There's an author who's blog I watch, who says she has much the same problem you're talking about.... She envisions scenes with such sensory details that she describes it as a kind of sensory explosion--seeing every knothole in a worn, weathered door, for instance. Yet, she forgets that just writing, "she came to the door" doesn't induce all of those sensory images...so she has to toil over it.
I guess the balance with description though comes somewhere with the realization that no matter how many words you use...the thing people see is probably still going to be different from how you describe it. Like you said, letting the imagination fill things in. It is weird...because for some books I read when I was little, I still have mental images that stage them in some place or house I know well, and really has nothing to do with the author's description. (Like, all of the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary take place in my Grandma's house. O.o)
I know Kelsi doesn't tend to have mental images of what she's writing, which is frankly a bit baffling to me, both since reading her writing tends to give me very clear pictures of what she describes, and because... well, it's kind of hard for me to figure out how that would work. *scratches head*
*laughs* Yeah, half the time, I don't know how it works either.... I guess I shouldn't say that I have NO mental images whatsoever. When I envision scenes, I tend to have a very clear idea of the characters involved, what they look like, what expressions they're making, how they're moving. Somehow, this always translates really *blandly* onto page though, and I have to tell myself that I don't need to, you know, mention it every time this character blinks or inhales. Because literally, I see it down to that degree of minutia when I'm writing dialogue, and it all seems vital at the time. But I never know how much to tag that dialogue with. :P
Scenery and such...that's a whole 'nother story. I tend to have a vague, almost black and white impression of an unfurnished "set." I have no idea of what is "in" a room, until I start making up things to furnish it with, and even then, when I try to force the "action" on that stage, I have to keep mentally replacing the props. :P It's really maddening...often, I see myself repeating the same details in the story, as if I'm refixing that "there's a chair here," or a "desk there," when probably the intelligent reader is quite aware of that already, thankyouverymuch, you didn't have to tell me half a dozen times. :P Anyway, it's hard for me to read back over my writing and see anything more than words on the page, and I get no sense of "atmosphere" whatsoever, no matter how much I labor over creating it. Ugh.
Ahaha, and I, too, get mental freeze on very commonplace expressions. (Sometimes, not just in writing.... *headdesk*) Thank goodness for Abi, who generally clues me in before I make a fool of myself. :D What would one do without proofreader sisters?
But yaaay, despite all of these woes, you are making progress! *cheers* Very much looking forward to seeing more! :D
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I guess the balance with description though comes somewhere with the realization that no matter how many words you use...the thing people see is probably still going to be different from how you describe it. Like you said, letting the imagination fill things in. It is weird...because for some books I read when I was little, I still have mental images that stage them in some place or house I know well, and really has nothing to do with the author's description. (Like, all of the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary take place in my Grandma's house. O.o)
I know Kelsi doesn't tend to have mental images of what she's writing, which is frankly a bit baffling to me, both since reading her writing tends to give me very clear pictures of what she describes, and because... well, it's kind of hard for me to figure out how that would work. *scratches head*
*laughs* Yeah, half the time, I don't know how it works either.... I guess I shouldn't say that I have NO mental images whatsoever. When I envision scenes, I tend to have a very clear idea of the characters involved, what they look like, what expressions they're making, how they're moving. Somehow, this always translates really *blandly* onto page though, and I have to tell myself that I don't need to, you know, mention it every time this character blinks or inhales. Because literally, I see it down to that degree of minutia when I'm writing dialogue, and it all seems vital at the time. But I never know how much to tag that dialogue with. :P
Scenery and such...that's a whole 'nother story. I tend to have a vague, almost black and white impression of an unfurnished "set." I have no idea of what is "in" a room, until I start making up things to furnish it with, and even then, when I try to force the "action" on that stage, I have to keep mentally replacing the props. :P It's really maddening...often, I see myself repeating the same details in the story, as if I'm refixing that "there's a chair here," or a "desk there," when probably the intelligent reader is quite aware of that already, thankyouverymuch, you didn't have to tell me half a dozen times. :P Anyway, it's hard for me to read back over my writing and see anything more than words on the page, and I get no sense of "atmosphere" whatsoever, no matter how much I labor over creating it. Ugh.
Ahaha, and I, too, get mental freeze on very commonplace expressions. (Sometimes, not just in writing.... *headdesk*) Thank goodness for Abi, who generally clues me in before I make a fool of myself. :D What would one do without proofreader sisters?
But yaaay, despite all of these woes, you are making progress! *cheers* Very much looking forward to seeing more! :D