Timeline for How do you avoid smiling, head-bobbing characters?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
18 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 25, 2018 at 9:45 | answer | added | Craig Sefton | timeline score: 3 | |
| Feb 25, 2018 at 4:26 | comment | added | GGx | @K_foxer9 What a beautiful way of putting it. Thank you. | |
| Feb 24, 2018 at 19:35 | comment | added | K_foxer9 | A story is a painting, and the words are your colors. The more diversity in word choice, the more natural the pallete looks (think 32-bit color vs 8-bit color). There's a point of diminishing returns, and if you use the wrong word (or an obscure one), that's like a broken pixel in the story. I'd avoid hard-and-fast rules, and go with what feels natural but that also paints the most vivid picture in the reader's mind. A smile is not a grin, so just thesaurising doesn't add dimension; but if you're always using "smile", then consider whether each is actually that; maybe they're actually grins. | |
| Feb 23, 2018 at 15:59 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/StackWriting/status/967066493266440194 | ||
| Feb 23, 2018 at 14:58 | comment | added | GGx | @F1Krazy Yes! I read your post with interest. That comment about not writing a novel like it's a movie in your head, really concerned me. I've never heard that before, and I definitely do it, too. I wonder if I'm perhaps better suited to screenwriting!? I guess I'll find out when my agents try to sell it in March. I thought that Amadeus's comment about trying to "watch this scene in your head without the speech." to add "bodily movements, thoughts, perception problems (glare, lights, hearing), distractions" was a good tip. | |
| Feb 23, 2018 at 11:34 | comment | added | F1Krazy♦ | Reminds of my question How to avoid constantly starting paragraphs with "The character did this" "The character did that"? I have this problem quite often. | |
| Feb 23, 2018 at 4:58 | vote | accept | GGx | ||
| Feb 23, 2018 at 4:48 | comment | added | GGx | Thanks everyone! Makes me feel more positive! You should try reading Fifty Shades of Grey! 457 references to characters whispering, murmuring, or muttering. 101 utterances of "crap". 79 utterances of "oh my". 58 references to her "inner goddess". | |
| Feb 23, 2018 at 3:10 | comment | added | user18397 | All I can think of is the amount of Sniffing and Braid Tugging that goes on in WoT. 62 smiles and 28 nods is fine. | |
| Feb 22, 2018 at 23:21 | comment | added | JAB | @SethWhite Thanks, now I'm going to notice all the blinks the next time I read it. | |
| Feb 22, 2018 at 23:20 | comment | added | SethWhite | An added difficulty to figuring this out comes from your own familiarity with your story. The first time I read Sanderson's The Way of Kings, I never noticed all the "blinks". The second time through, they drove me a little crazy. I don't think you should plan for a reader's second read-through, but now that you're looking for it, it throws off your perception. | |
| Feb 22, 2018 at 21:58 | answer | added | Adrian McCarthy | timeline score: 9 | |
| Feb 22, 2018 at 20:10 | answer | added | J.G. | timeline score: 14 | |
| Feb 22, 2018 at 19:06 | answer | added | Secespitus | timeline score: 22 | |
| Feb 22, 2018 at 18:57 | answer | added | Chris Sunami | timeline score: 15 | |
| Feb 22, 2018 at 18:31 | answer | added | SFWriter | timeline score: 11 | |
| Feb 22, 2018 at 18:24 | comment | added | user | At 400 words per page, that 106,000 word novel is 265 pages. You've got a little under four and a half pages between each smile, and about one nod every ten pages. That doesn't sound to me like a major overuse of either. | |
| Feb 22, 2018 at 18:13 | history | asked | GGx | CC BY-SA 3.0 |