Contains references or tutorials concerning art and animation, information that might come in handy writing novels, bits of history, funny stories and ideas, etc etc from all over Tumblr.
Comics, anime, photographs and generally good art are included as part of visual references.
Here’s a part of a series of sketches i’m doing these days to keep my hands busy. This one features my Inquisitor being either bloodthirsty or horny, i don’t really know hhhhh
How do you guys get good at detail. like vivid “shit, i can see it in my brain” detail? can someone give me some tips??
Strong adjectives.
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Close your eyes and imagine the scene. Play it all out in your mind, the room, the dialogue, how everyone/everything looks, every little detail.
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Analyze scene with the 5Ws and 5 senses (who, what, where, why, & when, and sight, smell, sound, touch, & taste. An example would be who is seen, what do they see, when do they see it, where do they see it, why do they see it. Then go on to think about who do they smell [if applicable], what do they smell, where do they smell [where the smell is coming from], why do they smell it, and when do they smell.)
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Continue to do this until you’ve gone through all the senses for all 5Ws. Writing it down, in full sentences or bullet points, is very helpful, and you should have a journal/notebook just for doing so.
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If you’re writing from a character’s perspective , know your character. Everyone notices different things in different ways at different times. What you would notice first might not be what the character notices first. Ask your character what they notice first, and write that down. That will aid you in finding strong descriptive language to write the scene the way your character perceives it. Make sure to separate what you notice first from what your character notices first unless you both notice the same things.
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Rewrite it no more than 4 times. If you can’t quite get the scene right and you’ve rewritten it four times, move on. Take note on what you want to capture in that scene, but continue with the story or do something else. Chances are, you’re frustrated or tired and could use a break.
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Said is dead, or is it? We all know the “said is dead” rule, which is basically avoiding the boring, non descriptive word ‘said’. However, it is okay to still use that word! Just use it only when it applies. This same thing applies to strong adjectives. It is great to use the word “peered” instead of “looked”, but sometimes, the situation calls for something mild. Use your best judgement.
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Take off your sunglasses. We are often our own worst critics. We see our own work through a negative filter, much how when you wear sunglasses, you see things with a darker tint. This tint prevents you from seeing how things actually are, much like how our negative views cloud our judgement. So, when you’ve written your work, be sure too look at it without your sunglasses on. Look at it from the point of view of the reader. If this is hard for you, ask someone to help out!
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Sorry for a long reply, but I hope this helps! Writing can be very difficult, but it is rewarding. Good luck!
How do you guys get good at detail. like vivid “shit, i can see it in my brain” detail? can someone give me some tips??
Sensory details! Sight, smell, sound, taste, and touch. And be specific with the words you use. Vague, abstract words are hard to “see in your brain.” Specific, sensory ones are easier to visualize (and to smell, and to feel, etc.)
Compare:
A colorful sweater versus A rainbow-striped cardigan
The dragon looked scary versus The dragon was covered in razor-sharp spikes from nose to tail
He smelled bad versus He smelled like burnt coffee and motor oil
Hope this helps!
Pick your moments too - peppering in details that are pertinent later. Really well-crafted stories add the details in places where your mind is focused elsewhere, everything is on purpose. The rainbow-striped cardigan is ‘the one Nanna knitted before her eyes got bad’ a few paragraphs later when it matters. It can be how things look AND what they mean AND why they exist at all. A starving dragon covered in razor-sharp scales, or a friendly misunderstood dragon with razor-sharp scales. He smelled like burnt coffee because he was in a rush to fix his car to get to a job interview, or he smelled like cheap burnt coffee because he’d been to a ghetto diner after a night of stealing cars. I like to find opportunities to add a little bit more to everything, without needing to describe everything specifically. “Despite the warmth of the sun in her hair, she hoped the clouds forming on the horizon wouldn’t bring rain down on her freshly-washed sheets.” She’s outside, its a sunny day and she’s just done her washing. If the smell of the washing fits, add it - but add it because it’s important. Details that live in your brain are like little jigsaw bits and as the story moves along, the jigs add up to a picture. If she misses the scent of clean sheets because she’s far from home and the detail means something, its a good detail - it will do double-duty later.
you can read the rest of the story when I ll be published in France (Hachette) next year) hopefully september but maybe later. thank you for all your support :)
The rainbows won’t stop gushing from my mouth, but what is there I even need to say about lexxercise, you know lexxercise! The important thing is that lexxercise is lexxercise, a beautiful towering fir tree atop Mt. Amazing, and this is so gorgeous that it is physically making my heart seize up. Did you know that when you look up the phrase “transcendental composition arising from organic body language” in a dictionary which contains improbable phrases as entries instead of words, you get this picture accompanied by the definition, “mere mortals wish they could aspire to such heights”? WELL YOU DO.
