: Re: How to: descriptive writing I've been writing for a while now, and everyday I feel I'm getting more serious about it. But the quality of my fiction stories are straightforward and blah. I notice

@Shelley992

Vote Up Vote Down

You can't really focus on describing feelings. The key is to get the reader to recall existing feelings.

Let's examine your wish: "His legs felt like cooked noodles."

This is semi-ambiguous. How exactly does a cooked noodle feel?

"If he ran one more step he would collapse to the floor."

Where else would he collapse to?

Compare:
"The moment she heard the shot, her mind told her to run. All around she could hear screaming, shouting, and mayhem. When her throat began to burn and her lungs felt as if to explode, fear told her not to stop - just keep running, as fast as she could."

"When her throat began to burn and her lungs felt as if to explode . . ." - Every person who has been involved in competitive sports or pushed their physical limits knows that feeling. Anybody who runs knows its the respiratory system that hurts first. In the moment legs do not feel tired - they simply refuse to obey instructions.

"Write what you know?" dictates the ebb and flow of your story. You can go to town, really detail, events similar to those you have experienced - not so much detail on the rest.

You can also map one experience onto another. e.g. I suffered from sleep-paralysis as a child. I can use that experience to write 'being dead' or 'locked-in syndrome'.

(0)

Login to post a comment!