Nutmeg, accidental miracles, and the stories not taken

[corivax]

insomniac_tales says:
I'd like to read about your writing process. I get to read a lot of the finished products, but I'd like to know what goes into creating them (the strange little details: do you research or do you use things you already know about?). When do you usually write? Pen and paper or keyboard (or both)? And any other little thing you can think of

Comments

[gement]

I'll write your dialogue if you'll help me figure out how to describe things. I don't know how to describe things without getting all AND NOW I WILL STOP AND DESCRIBE THINGS. This is because I am description-blind when I read.

I blame Tolkein. Everyone was tall and grey-eyed, unless they were hobbits who were all red-cheeked and curly-haired, and then there were pages of landscape and poetry, which I tuned out. When physical setting is important to a plot, I generally find I have to go back and reread the descriptive bits, moving my lips.

In my mind, most stories take place in a platonic space where two people just talk and make facial expressions at each other. It's only when I write it down that I force myself to think about how the two people will interact physically, and then usually only with each other, not with their space.

You can bear this in mind while reading me; it may help you make more pointed commentary.

[corivax]

Do you think you really need any description other than how people interact with each other?

I thought the last scene I got to was pretty well described - you talked a lot about how people were sitting, sprawling, pacing...

[gement]

I worked pretty hard on that one. And Gerard's, well, a very kinetic personality, so it's easier with him.

So... when are you coming back to play?

[corivax]

Hm, it just occurred to me that it would be interesting, next time I'm reading, to write descriptions of the way the characters look to me. Probably not useful, but kind of fun. :)

[gement]

Very useful, actually. I've been struggling terribly with descriptions, and trying to get a sense of how they're gelling in people's minds, because, frankly, if I take the average and make them look like that, it will be easier for people to believe they look like that, eh? (Not defying what they already looked like to me, but frankly that was a little fuzzy.)

[corivax]

> (Not defying what they already looked like to me, but frankly that was a little fuzzy.)

I cannot imagine this. How do you think about them, inside your head? By name? Some sort of nebulous feel thing?

How characters look/feel/sound in my head

[gement]

An outline. A build. A length or shape of hair, a texture and a brightness or darkness, but rarely a distinct shade. A distinctive and very audible voice. A skin texture, a sense of how strongly they can grip, how carefully they caress. The curve of their shoulders, the shape of their cheekbones, the way their mouths fit around their words. A lot of facial expressions. A catch of breath, a turn of head, a smile, a wince, the particular way they stand very still with a blade at their throats... Every character does that one a little differently, I've found.

The feeling of standing in their skin while they breathe. (It's actually distracting to me, when I'm playing out some of the Aldo bits, that I breathe. It breaks character for a moment. When I really need to, I'll hyperventilate first so I can calmly stand that still without fighting for air for a moment, just to see how it feels.)