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icepixieETA: Let's see if this works right this time...
This is just something I've been thinking about lately. Also, I've never done a poll before. Fanfic applies to both questions if you want it to.
[Poll #525641]
Please elaborate in comments if you want. I'm interested in anything you have to say relating to these questions.
For me, about four out of five times, my first inking of a piece of writing will come in the form of a location to set it. I usually tend to draw these locations from real life. Whether they're from RL or purely imaginative, I know everything about how it feels to be in that place, from the exact location on a map to the air temperature to the background sounds and smells. Not all of this information makes it into the description of the place, but it helps me form the action that happens and the characters that would be found there. The other times are divided between a character--including fanfic explorations of characters seen on TV--and a "hey, wouldn't it be cool if" kind of plot. But mostly it's location: I'll think, I want to write a scene that takes place at a fireworks store, in a cornfield, on the front porch of a 1920s bungalow near a speedway on a summer night, on a snowy day in Atlantis, whatever. Everything else just falls into place after that. Of course, this tends to lead to fragmentary writing; once that scene is over, what do I do? Ideas where the character or plot come first aren't as rich in detail, but they seem to carry me through longer stretches of writing and larger goals.
Similarly, I enjoy pieces that make good use of descriptive language to really pull the reader into a scene. Thomas Hardy, my perennial favorite Victorian soap opera novelist, is a great example of this. In fact, when we were reading some Hardy stories in the Kenyon Seminar this semester, we had a brief discussion about descriptive language in novels. Matz suggested that some people "do the work" of imagining everything that is described as far as location, objects, etc., while others just skim to get to the action. I was somewhat astonished that anyone could not see everything as it was described. It's not a conscious decision for me; when I read, my mind pretty much translates it into a movie in my head. I take the description of the setting, realize it it full color, add any details that are lacking to make it cohesive, and then the action just takes place there like it would on a TV screen. After a while, I can't tell you the words I just read; I can tell you what the scene looks like in my mind, with my own words, but I probably couldn't repeat any of the sentences used by the original author. Maybe this comes from watching too much television as a small child, but I think even if I had no idea what movies or TV were, I'd still do this. Maybe not as well, but I think that's still how I would read.
This is just something I've been thinking about lately. Also, I've never done a poll before. Fanfic applies to both questions if you want it to.
[Poll #525641]
Please elaborate in comments if you want. I'm interested in anything you have to say relating to these questions.
For me, about four out of five times, my first inking of a piece of writing will come in the form of a location to set it. I usually tend to draw these locations from real life. Whether they're from RL or purely imaginative, I know everything about how it feels to be in that place, from the exact location on a map to the air temperature to the background sounds and smells. Not all of this information makes it into the description of the place, but it helps me form the action that happens and the characters that would be found there. The other times are divided between a character--including fanfic explorations of characters seen on TV--and a "hey, wouldn't it be cool if" kind of plot. But mostly it's location: I'll think, I want to write a scene that takes place at a fireworks store, in a cornfield, on the front porch of a 1920s bungalow near a speedway on a summer night, on a snowy day in Atlantis, whatever. Everything else just falls into place after that. Of course, this tends to lead to fragmentary writing; once that scene is over, what do I do? Ideas where the character or plot come first aren't as rich in detail, but they seem to carry me through longer stretches of writing and larger goals.
Similarly, I enjoy pieces that make good use of descriptive language to really pull the reader into a scene. Thomas Hardy, my perennial favorite Victorian soap opera novelist, is a great example of this. In fact, when we were reading some Hardy stories in the Kenyon Seminar this semester, we had a brief discussion about descriptive language in novels. Matz suggested that some people "do the work" of imagining everything that is described as far as location, objects, etc., while others just skim to get to the action. I was somewhat astonished that anyone could not see everything as it was described. It's not a conscious decision for me; when I read, my mind pretty much translates it into a movie in my head. I take the description of the setting, realize it it full color, add any details that are lacking to make it cohesive, and then the action just takes place there like it would on a TV screen. After a while, I can't tell you the words I just read; I can tell you what the scene looks like in my mind, with my own words, but I probably couldn't repeat any of the sentences used by the original author. Maybe this comes from watching too much television as a small child, but I think even if I had no idea what movies or TV were, I'd still do this. Maybe not as well, but I think that's still how I would read.
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Date: 2005-07-05 03:28 am (UTC)Dude. Wanna hear something creepy? As I read that sentence, before I read your take on it, my mental camera panned down the dragon's back too. Except my mental camera is ghetto-fabulous, and it's more stop-motion than actual film. I can see still visual stuff pretty clearly in my mind, and I can link together a series of still images to form jerky animation, but I can't visualize fluid movement at all. If I focus really hard, I can almost see smooth motion, but then the rest of the detail of the picture dies. Except.. I can always tell the motion's there. Like it's the foreign-dubbed audio track on a DVD. It's there, and it corresponds exactly to the rest of the movie (well, in terms of soundtrack timing, if not lip movement), but it's saved in a seperate file. I know the quality of the motion, and I can tell you exactly what the motion is doing, but I can't see it. I can.. feel it? Anyway, I think my brain is busted.
I'd never have expected that.
Yeah, me neither.
That reminds me, I should write some samples for Advanced Fiction while I have time...
Yessss... I think I'm gonna go for non-fic, since I've had so much practice this year...
Dude, I cannot go for a fifteen-minute car ride without seeing about six different places I'd like to set a story.
Weirdo.
Hear hear!
Speaking of completely the opposite, you should read Ben Rice's _Pobby and Dingan_ for Jesse's book report. It's a great little book you can read in an hour.
Oh, has somebody started Mrs. Dalloway?
No, just buying that stupid book today makes me so angry I can't even spell the woman's name right anymore.
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Date: 2005-07-05 02:01 pm (UTC)That is pretty creepy.
Except my mental camera is ghetto-fabulous, and it's more stop-motion than actual film. I can see still visual stuff pretty clearly in my mind, and I can link together a series of still images to form jerky animation, but I can't visualize fluid movement at all. If I focus really hard, I can almost see smooth motion, but then the rest of the detail of the picture dies. Except.. I can always tell the motion's there. Like it's the foreign-dubbed audio track on a DVD. It's there, and it corresponds exactly to the rest of the movie (well, in terms of soundtrack timing, if not lip movement), but it's saved in a seperate file. I know the quality of the motion, and I can tell you exactly what the motion is doing, but I can't see it. I can.. feel it?
Where would we be without the words of modern technology to describe these things? *g* I think I've occasionally gotten the stop-motion animation sensation, although I couldn't name you any specific examples. (I haven't eaten in a while due to impending blood tests at the doctor's, so my brain's not working quite right this morning.) Is there anything that's more vivid about the experience than the vision for you, then?
Anyway, I think my brain is busted.
England broke your brain!
Yessss... I think I'm gonna go for non-fic, since I've had so much practice this year...
Heh.
Weirdo.
I know.
Speaking of completely the opposite, you should read Ben Rice's _Pobby and Dingan_ for Jesse's book report. It's a great little book you can read in an hour.
Hmmm. That sounds...interesting. If I hadn't already read Object Lessons, I'd go out and buy that book.
No, just buying that stupid book today makes me so angry I can't even spell the woman's name right anymore.
*snerk* My copy came from Amazon Marketplace a couple days ago. I hid it in the bottom of my bookcase and intend to forget about it. Urg.