Virtual experience

Hi all, as you may know, I'm pretty new here.

Typically, when writing a paragraph for a short story describing something, I usually imagine the scenario happening, I visualize and then write what I have "seen".

But I don't think it's enough for me at all, sometimes I just feel it lacks detail, might be due to inexperience on these things.

For example, I want to write something about caves, but I've never been in one. And it isn't simple because I'm always stuck here in my room, never been to places. Or maybe I want to write about winter and snow but I live in a tropical country.

So is there some sort of program or a website that can, say for instance, describe what winter is like? You know, it will tell you something like, during cold days, blood clots more slower, or maybe, caves do not curve because water flows straight or something. These aren't exactly correct because they are just examples, I'm just giving you a brief clarification on my question.

If there are none, then what other alternatives do I have? Sometimes, I just type in Youtube stuff related to what I''m writing about, like wave sounds, or morning ambience etc.

Hello there! Welcome to YWS. Anywhoo, I know exactly what you mean, and I do a couple of things when in that situation. One, I would use google images. Get a feel for what something looks like. Then two, use something like google earth, it should get you some other great visuals! The only other thing I do when I am in that situation is I will go through my vast book collection and/or the library and draw on the knowledge of other writers for how they describe stuff, then alter some and mix it in with the imagery of google. Good luck!

~Luata

For the sort of information you're looking for, travelogues are perfect. They're basically a person's experiences of travel as they travel through wherever, and so they're typically filled with sensory details, particularly the older, text-only ones which have been traditionally published. Online travelogues also have pictures, and sometimes video clips with sounds.

Here's an example of a cave temple travelogue.

"Travel blog" is pretty synonymous with "travelogue" nowadays, and I think it's a bit more common, so searching for travel blogs is a good idea.

On a semi-side note, exploring caves is called spelunking, so I'd recommend punching "spelunking" into a search engine and trawling the results for travel blogs and other forms of descriptive writing. You'll also probably be able to find a TON of information on proper gear and practices to safely spelunk, as well information on the different kinds of caves and various cave systems.

Why didn't I think of those, from all of the ideas I've thought about

Imagination + Research + Travelogues + Google images + Youtube + A decent amount of time would seem to make a good story. The closest I've got to a virtual experience are mostly from games but I've never really thought about it because I always end up sucked into the game.

Thanks guys, I'll consider your suggestions