Real life, logic and writing

[Nezhul]

Hello again.

I wanna discuss a topic here. When does explaining things out stops to be good and can be omitted?

Example: I was thinking of a setting where the characters are locked in a cave for some time.
Normally you'd get dirty, but that's okay - there's a spring there that they can wash in, and there's plenty of food and water to survive.

I was thinking to make a sex scene with pussy fingering... and then I hit a snag with my over-thinking mind.

My problem: nails. There's no way you can clip your nails if you don't have at least a knife, and let's say they can't make a sharp rock or something. They'll either grow long dirty nails or will have to bite them off like our ancestors did, which will be messy too.

But then I realized - do I even have to explain things like that in a fiction story that doesn't try to sound as a survival guide to realism in the first place?

what do you think?

 

[Weird Harold]

Hello again.

I wanna discuss a topic here. When does explaining things out stops to be good and can be omitted?

It all depends on the story you want to tell.

One of my early mentors told me, "Don't insult your reader's intelligence." Another asked, "How do you make a cup of tea?"

In other words, don't worry about details that don't impact on the mood or the story. Uncut fingernails only matter if they interrupt or are otherwise relevant to the action. If neither participant complains, don't mention them. How much or little you describe sanitary measures or conditions will generally have little bearing on the story, although such details can set or destroy a mood.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

Bite the nails off.

Don't describe or explain common knowledge.

 

[lovecraft68]

I try to keep things as realistic as the story-and sometimes genre-allows, but every story also features a moment of what I refer to as "porn absurdity' which means anything sex related that is not always believable.

I would put "wait, wouldn't they have long fingernails that could scratch the woman and be uncomfortable?" in with that.

In fact in my opinion the eye roll would be directed at the person who needed to point that out rather than the person who skipped the detail in the writing.

 

[SimonDoom]

One way to solve this particular problem without overexplaining would be to point out at some time in the story that somebody carried a Swiss army knife. It's a plausible thing to expect of people who are doing whatever they are doing that results in their getting trapped in a cave. The knife could come in handy in a number of ways to help them survive in the cave. Just by mentioning that it exists, you take care of the problem. There's no need to narrate the act of nail-clipping.

 

[AwkwardMD]

Chekhov would shoot off the fingernails with his gun.

 

[SimonDoom]

Chekhov would shoot off the fingernails with his gun.

That probably explains why his stories never get the "H."

 

[Areala-chan]

I carry an Emery board with me pretty much everywhere for 'just in case' reasons such as this, especially if I'm going to be somewhere outdoors where chipping or cracking a nail is likely. Have one of your female characters carry one on the caving trip, and problem solved.

 

[sr71plt]

There's no need to describe such things at all unless they are being used as a relevant devise in the story line. The ancients managed it somehow. It's not important for us to read how--in fact, it's a distraction from the story--unless it means something in the story.

 

[49greg]

A lot of people carry nail clippers on their key ring. I used to carry a full on swiss army knife with a small pair of scissors, and used that to snip nails. (Now I carry a more basic swiss army knife, less pocket bulge.) But nails are only the tip of the iceberg. Where do they poop. What do they use to wipe with, how about tooth brush and tooth paste.

Sure, you can wipe your rear in the water and hope to get it all, but in an enclosed cave, the smell of the poo is going to get more and more strong. Of course you could put in a deep hole of the right size, some sort of bottomless pit, but then maybe at it's bottom it connects with the pool of water that they use for drinking and cleaning bottoms with.

Hmmmm. There will be stink.

My advice is not to mention it at all. Or only, as someone previously posted, mention that someone has the Swiss knife, or full on nail care kit in their purse. Leave bodily functions alone, ignore it and maybe your readers will too.

 

[Nezhul]

There's no need to describe such things at all unless they are being used as a relevant devise in the story line. The ancients managed it somehow. It's not important for us to read how--in fact, it's a distraction from the story--unless it means something in the story.

That's what I was leaning towards, just wanted to make sure.

Also to all those who suggest clippers / swiss knives - if it's not clear, I'm talking about a situation when they don't have any of that. At all. I even specifically pointed that out that they don't have a knife or even primitive substitutes like sharp rocks.

In the end, I think I'll just leave it out entirely. Never talk about nails and write with the assumprion that nothing is wrong in that department

 

[jaF0]

Hello again.

I wanna discuss a topic here. When does explaining things out stops to be good and can be omitted?

Example: I was thinking of a setting where the characters are locked in a cave for some time.
Normally you'd get dirty, but that's okay - there's a spring there that they can wash in, and there's plenty of food and water to survive.

In Journey To The Center Of The Earth, there are references to vast forests, wide oceans with violent storms and 12' tall humans.

 

[SimonDoom]

That's what I was leaning towards, just wanted to make sure.

Also to all those who suggest clippers / swiss knives - if it's not clear, I'm talking about a situation when they don't have any of that. At all. I even specifically pointed that out that they don't have a knife or even primitive substitutes like sharp rocks.

In the end, I think I'll just leave it out entirely. Never talk about nails and write with the assumprion that nothing is wrong in that department

From my experience at this site, you won't have any problems with your readers, unless a cuckolded husband ends up in the cave.

 

[LeandraNyx]

Honestly, I think it depends on the story genre and the audience. I think a one-off stroke story probably doesn't need a lot of realism to float well with readers. A multi-chapter story in sci-fi/fantasy? That's gonna require a lot more realism, because people start to get invested in more than just the sex.

For me, a lack of realism in genre writing and film can be a real turn-off. I absolutely hate it when the women in post-apocalyptic fiction magically maintain perfectly shaved legs & armpits, while the men grow scraggly beards. Seriously? It pulls me right out of the story--reminds me I am reading/watching fiction--and the magic is lost. On Lit, I read a lot of multi-chapter stories with nonconsent, and it really bugs me when the issue of birth control isn't addressed early on. Like, we're just gonna keep having nonconsensual sex for several chapters and never address how she magically never gets pregnant?

So, yeah, it depends.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

I research the hell outta what I write.

this is a pistol you maybe saw on THE RIFLEMAN. It comes in a variety of sizes . Winchester made a 12 gauge shotgun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VG0oQB9VK0g

The shotgun version John Browning worked for Winchester in the late 1800s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExWX9_lWUPI

 

[Handley_Page]

.
Explorers will often take a decent "Swiss Army Knife" with them on adventures.

 

[lovecraft68]

.
Explorers will often take a decent "Swiss Army Knife" with them on adventures.

That's a good point, but do words need to be wasted on describing someone sitting there paring their nails-with a possible addition line of "never know when you might want to finger a woman while trapped in a cave"

Sometimes less is more.

 

[NotWise]

I agree with the idea that you don't need to describe details that aren't a factor in the story.

On the other hand, natural caves are in limestone and limestone is barely hard enough that they could file their fingernails on the rock if they really wanted to. It sounds like they have the time.

 

[CoffeeWithMonkeys]

I have aspergers so a lot of the times I would be the one wondering those precise details. People hate to watch movies with me because I am always asking why did XXX happen without YYY?
Little stupid things bother me like in movies when people wake up and are all lovey and talking into someone else's face, where's the nasty morning breath?
Or why don't they need to pee as soon as they wake up?
Things have to make sense to my brain.
And it sucks.
And a lot of the time it's a huge killjoy to have a brain that works this way.

 

[Hypoxia]

Rules:
1) Don't sweat the petty stuff.
2) It's all petty stuff unless you fluff it up.

Are sanitation details significant to the story? Then explicate. Otherwise, move on with the tale.

And yes, just as cartoon characters can manifest any needed prop, so can your players be equipped with whatever you find handy. I'm almost there. My day bag always contains a Leatherman tool, collapsible kite, rescue scissors, harmonicas, medicines, toilet tissue, radio scanner, hard candies, kerchiefs, switchblade stiletto, lighters, etc. Give your creations a nice mix of goodies -- or not, to challenge them. Drop them naked somewhere and let them evolve, heh heh.

Explain what needs explaining and finesse the rest.