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A specific community for original shortform and longform writing, stories, worldbuilding, and other stuff of that nature.

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What do you do when trying to describe something very specific? (beehaw.org)

submitted 1 year ago by silent_g@beehaw.org to c/writing@beehaw.org

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Many times when writing, I get a very specific image in my head of the way I want something to look, or the way I want something to move. Particularly with actions where objects are moving in a very specific way, I want to describe them accurately so that most readers would see the same thing that I'm seeing in my head. The problem is, I don't want to come off as sounding too technical (the object slid along its Z axis and suddenly stopped and rotated 45 degrees on its Y axis), and I also don't want to be so vague that a later sentence contradicts what they were seeing in their head.

Is this just a psychological thing that I need to get over and stop worrying about, and just write to the best of my ability and edit when I hear critiques/comments from readers, or is it a skill that I need to improve?

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[–] LallyLuckFarm@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago

Could you describe the movements relative to the rest of the scene you're setting?

"Part of the mechanism moved along the west wall, as though guided by (mechanical/spooky action related to plot). It stopped, then rotated towards (character) but came to rest on its corner before completing even a quarter rotation to the east."