Where are your weak spots?

[inkdust]

I've known for a while now that I struggle with grounding my scenes with setting details. I'm so wary of drawn-out descriptions of places and people that I run the risk of writing scenes that read more like dialogue scripts. So one element of tackling my second draft is consciously adding in more background details.

Where are your writing weaknesses? What do you do to try to overcome them?

Comments

[sarillia]

I actually really love writing the characters' reactions to the dialogue. I think part of it is that living with my anxiety has made me really aware of the sort of bodily responses that can happen under emotion since mine are so exaggerated. But I love to think about how each line might affect the person speaking and the person being spoken to, the complex emotions that are brought to the surface and how they are reflected in their body language.

[inkdust]

I think describing physical reactions well is key to good writing, since without them, verbal responses have no backing and may not come off as credible (certainly not as relatable), but I get so stuck with the few that come to mind. Breathing and heart rate, eyes widening/rolling/closing, various kinds of fidgeting, looking down/away/at _____, I just feel like I'm repeating the same things over and over. I wish there was a master list of every movement the human body can make.

[sarillia]

You could try researching body language. There's a lot of interesting scholarship on the subject. If you combine the information from various sources you might be able to make such a list yourself.

[serria]

Oh, I so agree about that master list! I get not wanting to put in excess descriptions that don't serve a point, but a good scene should be able to tell itself from the actions as well as the dialogue, I think. But I hate feeling like I'm recycling the same cliches. I cringe myself whenever I write the word "frown" or "stared at ___" now, because I use them way too often.

[inkdust]

God, "stared at" is the worst. Every scene.