Sensory perceptions in writing

[AG31]

I do know that if an author inserts points of the compass, I'm constantly struggling with my initial facing north point of view. My house, as a child, faced north, and I headed north to walk (by myself after the first day!) to kindergarten. I'm stuck. I don't know which sense this involves... visual for most people, but for me it's somatic. I "feel" that I'm facing north. That's why I like the car's GPS map to always be oriented north. Drives hubby crazy, but I'm the navigator.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

I will frequently completely disregard an author's descriptions and use my own while reading. Like a location, say a school, every story I read with a school has my high school or sometimes community college. They could be describing an Ivy League university, and it's my high school.

Like I know what a classroom looks like, I don't need the description to imagine it.

I suspect this happens more frequently than most of us would like to admit.
You can spend a few paragraphs describing the bed, the sheets, the smell of lilacs in a vase on the night stand... and most people will end up with an image of a generic bed once the action starts.

 

[DeMont]

I suspect this happens more frequently than most of us would like to admit.
You can spend a few paragraphs describing the bed, the sheets, the smell of lilacs in a vase on the night stand... and most people will end up with an image of a generic bed once the action starts.

@Kelliezgirl,
Good evening my dear colleague, have you ever come across the saying, "The devil is in the details!" ?
It is a statement that, in some measure, intimates that adding too much detail to anything can cause whatever it is you're doing/ saying or writing to become distracted from it's original concept. I am left to wonder, does this apply to everything we write or does it only apply to a proportion of what is written here?

For example;
If you were featuring the boudoir of a high class lady in a story, or scene, you would, I think, need to reflect that with a little something more than if you were describing a bed at a "four hour nap" motel, no? Wouldn't the imagery of "the bed" depend upon the setting and context, and the more involved the setting and complex then, naturally, the more complex the details of the environment would need to be.

What are your thoughts?
Respectfully,
D.

 

[JayHawnee]

For example;
If you were featuring the boudoir of a high class lady in a story, or scene, you would, I think, need to reflect that with a little something more than if you were describing a bed at a "four hour nap" motel, no? Wouldn't the imagery of "the bed" depend upon the setting and context, and the more involved the setting and complex then, naturally, the more complex the details of the environment would need to be.

I personally think, the complexity of a description depends not only on the setting itself, but also on the perspective from which it's observed in the story. A noble lady might e.g. just ignore the Boudoir as it's part of her everyday life, while the new house maid who may have never seen anything like it could marvel at every detail. In a third person story, you could even use the description of the Boudoir or the Bed to mirror the protagonists character or their inner state of mind, what would also add to the complexity of the description.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

@Kelliezgirl,
Good evening my dear colleague, have you ever come across the saying, "The devil is in the details!" ?
It is a statement that, in some measure, intimates that adding too much detail to anything can cause whatever it is you're doing/ saying or writing to become distracted from it's original concept. I am left to wonder, does this apply to everything we write or does it only apply to a proportion of what is written here?

For example;
If you were featuring the boudoir of a high class lady in a story, or scene, you would, I think, need to reflect that with a little something more than if you were describing a bed at a "four hour nap" motel, no? Wouldn't the imagery of "the bed" depend upon the setting and context, and the more involved the setting and complex then, naturally, the more complex the details of the environment would need to be.

What are your thoughts?
Respectfully,
D.

A very valid question. @JayHawnee makes a very valid point as well, that the perspective matters.

To use your example, if we are describing the boudoir, what information are we actually trying to provide the reader. What purpose does the description serve?
If we've already established the Lady is rich, has good taste, and so forth does a long detailed description of the boudoir benefit the reader? Or is it just self indulgent on the part of the writer?
Now, if our Lady is from a wealthy family that has fallen on hard times, we can convey some of that in our description. Things that are worn at the edges, not quite all shiny and new.
Similarly if she's rich and has poor taste we can convey that as well.
Either way, the purpose should be to convey information about the characters, or to set up action.
From a lit perspective you need to establish that she has a 4 poster bed if you intend someone to be tied to it.

In my current WIP the FMC is at a cabin owned by a very wealthy MMC. I describe the furniture more than I normally would. It's all very well built but worn. The MMC could afford anything he wants, but he's deliberately chosen function over anything else. It's insight into his character.

 

[Britva415]

Sometimes it's OK to do more telling and less showing.

One author for one story may want to show how posh the boudoir is by purpling the description to within an inch of its life, while another story by the same or some other author might be served juuuust fine by simply stating "it's posh, eh."