: Re: How does one go about describing someone doing Naruto like hand symbols? Like how do I describe if someone is doing symbols with their hands like this? I want to describe specific hand formation

@Candy753

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I feel like your question is a bit too specific, so my answer is going to be a little more generic.

When describing something with very fine detail it's easy to provide too much information and lose the reader, because we often think too visually and not enough about story.

He brought his hands together, fingers flat at first, then lowered all but his middle and little fingers, bent slightly at the knuckles, pointing upwards, forming a symbol. Then the next symbol, he rose his index, dropped his little finger and put his palms together. The next...

Reads quite badly, because we don't really care how his hands are shaped exactly, but as a reader, we care about the results.

When we read, we interpret things through our own lenses. When we watch anime, we see the pictures as they're drawn. It's a good idea to embrace the fuzziness of writing, not to try and paint with your words as precisely as a picture on a screen.

He brought his hands together, his fingers pointed out like a beak, forming the ninja sign for bird. Then, the symbol for ram - palms together, index and middle fingers pointed high, focusing on that point, focusing his chakra there until his fingers burned and his breath caught in his throat...

In this second one I barely bothered describing the symbols. Some readers will imagine the bird sign very differently to others. Think about why your character is doing these things and what the result is. If someone wants to imagine the thumbs spread like wings for the bird, let them. What damage does that do to your story?

If you must define it in a way that fans can say is right or wrong, add it in an appendix at the back, where diagrams are wanted and expected. Bogging down your prose with those details will not only upset the flow, readers will not imagine it precisely the way you want them to no matter how much you describe it.

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