March 2020 - Day 1

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Here is the place to tell us about your daily success (or the lack of it)!
May the magic be with us all!

I'll put up the daily post in late afternoon or early evening, CET.

Comments

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

Not a great start - unexpected visitors and a minor household emergency cut into my time, but I did manage to dig out the "description journal" I started some time ago (I saw this article suggesting it, and thought "I should do that, started it with one of the many many notebooks I have around the house and then....fell away what with one thing and another) and start a description of one of my visitors ("she had a long, superior face like a vaguely confused llama and kind dark eyes") and a couple of people ("pale stone-coloured eyes and a smile that seemed to have been painted on and then forgotten") I want to use for inspiration in stories.

Because I have come to think that short fiction is what I do best and therefore what I want to try and do when I retire, I also want to hone and sharpen my descriptions - people, things, places - to make them shorter and more vivid, so the journal will I think come in handy.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Those are great descriptions! I can practically see these people with my mind's eye.

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

My heroes in descriptive writing are PG Wodehouse, Raymond Chandler and Clark Ashton Smith, and I think it does show...

[adafrog.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a good idea. Love the confused llama description.

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

We love llamas in our family... and it's softer than describing her as looking like a camel :)

[elmey.livejournal.com]

Those are good! It's hard to describe people with short brushstrokes like that; I like what you're doing.

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

It is hard, especially if I'm trying to avoid the laundry list of eye and hair colour etc. I did some more of them for Day 2...

[spikesgirl58.livejournal.com]

Excellent use of time. We can all use a little honing at times! :D

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

I think readers these days (except maybe in romance) are less interested i the 'laundry list' descriptions of haor and eye colour, height, weight etc, so I try to use interesting imagery. Of course, when describing things (or monsters or aliens), that gets a little more difficult... :)

[spikesgirl58.livejournal.com]

I agree. I always prefer to let the reader plug in descriptions unless it's otherwise vital.

[akane42me.livejournal.com]

What a neat idea, to work in the description journal. I love your dream of writing short stories when you retire.

Last pico, I think it was, I spent some time on personal journaling when I wasn't feeling inspired to work on my story.
Very enjoyable.

[spikesgirl58.livejournal.com]

That's great. I hope it helps you along with a future story!

[ylla.livejournal.com]

Does your visitor know she's like a llama? :-)

It sounds useful!

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

I doubt it :) But trying to find unique but not just plain odd ways to describe people and things is good exercise....

I hate to think what I would describe ME as...

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I can absolutely 'see' those people - what great descriptions.

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

Thankee! I am a huge fan of mataphor and imagery when reading :)