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having issues with commentary and slow every day moments



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Wed Mar 20, 2013 12:51 am
illitar says...



Hi. I have been writing for a few years now and I am having the same reoccurring problems in my basic writing skills. I am great at action and fighting scenes but when it comes to basic commentary and scenes where people just hang out and do daily thing; That is where I have my flaws.

Also grammar but that comes later.

can some one give me some tips?

I have always barricaded myself in the library so talking is not one of my strong suits.
  





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Wed Mar 20, 2013 3:42 am
Stori says...



I know how that feels. ^ Probably the best thing to do would be to just observe people in their natural habitat, so to speak. In other words, just observe and take notes. Maybe even approach someone and start a conversation.
  





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Wed Mar 20, 2013 6:47 am
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BadNarrator says...



I'm not really sure I understand the problem. You are good at writing action but bad at scenes where people just do "daily things"? It sounds to me like you don't find these daily things to be very interesting.

If that's the case then the answer is simple. If it's not interesting it doesn't deserve to be in the work. There's a reason most stories don't show the main character using the bathroom or clipping his toenails or paying his taxes. The reason the reader is reading, the reason the entire story is being told in fact, is because something out of the ordinary is taking place.

Even if it is a story in which all the characters do is sit around drinking coffee, something has to be amiss. Something about what the characters are talking about, the sideways looks they give each other, the way the one character bites his lips before professing his undying love for chocolate, has to be out of the ordinary. It has to let the reader know that something is at stake.

The problem a lot of new writers, myself included, tend to have is that they approach fiction as if they simply need to have a certain number of words on the page. I've learned through study that the opposite is true. Your goal is to get your point across in as few words as possible. Everything from the first capitalization to the last end stop must do one of two things, build tension or move the plot forward. If it's not absolutely crucial to the story it needs to be cut.
First you will awake in disbelief, then
in sadness and grief and when you wake
the last time, the forest you've been
looking for will turn out to be
right in the middle of your chest.
  





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Wed Mar 20, 2013 6:58 am
illitar says...



wow thanks that helps a lot.
  





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Thu Mar 21, 2013 5:34 pm
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Tenyo says...



Learn to observe, that's the best thing I can recommend.

If you're shut up in a library then you have a perfect place to spy on people ;] Watch their habits and movements as they're walking round, browsing, reading. Some people are eerily still, others animate their every thought. Listen to the sound that different fabrics of clothing make as they walk past.

Look at a shelf of books and see which ones are bright, or dull, or worn out, or new. Imagine the shelf falling and think of which ones would slip straight out and which ones would fall heavy and hard.

People who are good at writing action are often action orientated, so try to broaden your scope a little more. Next time you watch a movie (preferably a good one) pause it during a scene and take a look at what is happening in the background.

Our world is huge. There's always a thousand things going on in the background, and depending on our moods and our thoughts we become aware of different things at different times- but there's a lot to choose from.

When one person walks past a self-help bookshelf in a bad mood, they'll scowl at the silly titles like 'anger management for dummies,' but in a good mood they'll admire how nicely set out it is and how bright the books are, without caring for the content.

Try not to add too much detail into your scenes, though. Observation will train your brain to notice the little details, but you don't have to translate every detail into writing, just the ones that are important.

Every day activities drown into a sea of static, but it's these little things of significance that break through to our conciousness and mean something to us, to your character, and so to the story.
We were born to be amazing.
  








In short, Mrs. Pontellier was beginning to realize her position in the universe as a human being, and to recognize her relations as an individual to the world within and about her.
— Kate Chopin, The Awakening