This is my attempt to make some content happen, since I’m working like a crazy person this weekend.
The trick to making the setting and scene realistic lies in adding just the right amount of detail. The internet is very helpful here, because it offers a wide variety of images. You can find the right one and describe it. Most of the time, unless I’m naming a specific product, it’s not necessary to get every detail right. I just need to provide enough clues for the reader and they will construct the image in their head. The beauty of writing is that every reader will have a slightly different image in their mind and that makes the novel personal to them.
This scene involves Rowena, one of the Masters of the Dead. We need to describe Rowena herself and her office.
Rowena is in the Casino, working. She is a woman who is always put together.
Google: designer business suit women
Click on Women’s Suits Italy link
I like the Prada business suit. Except I need to make it blue, because that’s the color Rowena would like.
I stopped at the service desk and asked to see Rowena. Ten minutes later she came down the stairs. She wore an elegant business suit. The dark blue fabric of the blazer hugged her tiny waist, betraying a glimpse of a white silk blouse. The pants slimmed her legs and her
Google prada shoes
Click first sponsored link
Click fall collection
shiny leather pumps added another five inches to her height. Her fiery red hair fell down her shoulders in a carefully styled cascade. She looked impeccable, elegant and powerful, yet unmistakably feminine.
At this point, the reader is wondering why Kate is noticing all this detail. We need this detail for contrast.
She didn’t look like a woman with blood on her hands.
Reinforce the contrast:
Her face reflected nothing except hospitality, but her eyes looked haggard.
“Kate, what a pleasant surprise.”
Define pleasant. “We need a place to talk.”
Blah-blah-blah, skip, skip, skip.
We’re now proceeding into Rowena’s office. Here it’s critical to consider what sort of woman Rowena is. What does she want? What decor appeals to her?
I think Rowena would like a beach home. That means little clutter, clean lines, light palette. A nice contrast to Ghastek’s office, which is decorate in rich color and is cluttered. Also a nice contrast to the horror of the vampire stables.
Google beach getaway house
Click Images
Scroll, scroll, scroll
Page 7, second row, fourth image
I like this image. It seems like Rowena, so I’m going to incorporate it.
The floor was muted, sand-colored tile. The walls offered an off-white shade. A cream rug lay on the floor, flanked by blond-wood couch and two chairs supporting pale soft cushions. The place was simple and free of clutter. An aromatic candle floated in a glass dish, sending a faint vanilla perfume into the air. To the right, a beige drape framed the floor-to-ceiling observation window.
Now I want to nudge the reader toward the right association.
You half-expected to pull the drape aside and see white sand and crystalline blue water of the ocean instead of the concrete box full of undead chained in their cells.
The end. Must go write more.
This was really fun to read! Nifty post. Thank-you for sharing a part of your process in such an interactive way. I don’t write at all but it was cool seeing how you make it work
Cool! Thanks for the insight Ilona! One of the things “Kate” manages to do well is make sure she sees everything around her (thus so do we) :~) Great writing!
Very interesting! I’m really impressed to see how you work.
Don’t forget to rest, ‘kay? We all care about you
Very cool – thank you.
Cool. Thank you for sharing a little of how you work, Ilona. It was interesting to read. And I echo Kalimera, rest when you need it. Thanks again and have a great day.
That was cool. =)
This helps me a lot. I have done that kind of research a little bit, but then wondered if I wasn’t just getting sidetracked when I should be writing. I think it’s kind of tricky learning just how much detail is necessary. I guess it’s one of those things you have to learn from trial and error, or getting advice from other writers:)
I must say I pictured her in a much skimpier classic charlies angel sort of look: revealing enough to promise everything without implying that the woman wearing it says yes to just anyone
Ooh. Thank you! I hadn’t considered using Google like that
ohh, thank you. this really was very interesting!!!
Ilona – that was a really good post- and I am ashamed to say I did not fully appreciate how much visualising ( prob not right verb) goes into constructing a character profile.
Pumps for me will always conjour gym shoes/trainers! It always causes a pause when I am reading descriptions.
Great post– so true– so useful– thanks!
I also use it for folklore studies and online libraries. The UC Berkeley online folklore library is fabulous; and the following site is always a wealth of interesting information:
http://bibliodyssey.blogspot.com/
Don’t know if you’ve seen the latest post on Russian Satirical Journals?
http://bibliodyssey.blogspot.com/2010/08/russian-satirical-journals.html
Fun! Only problem? Too addictive…
thanks for this. it is so kind of you sharing this with your readers in your busy time.
and it is really usefull too
Thanks for your tip and your wonderfully, descriptive examples of using the internet.
that was very interesting thanks for sharing!
I do that! I lack the knack of imagining with visual clarity (unless it is a memory). It leaves detail holes in descriptions and makes it too hard to find the verb that gets rid of the modifiers, like “the borrowed dress wilted on her frame” instead of “she looked defeated in a saggy, crumpled dress that was too big for her.”
The personality of a house, the attitude of an older model vehicle, an orange red vs. a primary red, all of them are things I overlook without the visual.
I have some lovely imaginary images from the Kate books
Wow, thank you for this glimpse over your shoulder!