Morning all. Today’s Task: Complete the full read through after you have finished filling the plot gaps to make certain everything flows smoothly. Pretty straightforward.
For everyone who has already completed their run through or is just following along, we have another writing exercise. And yes it is a description for an animal. In case you are wondering why we are describing animals and their movements, etc. it is actually quite simple. When we describe people there is the all too common tendency to use shortcuts. We can easily group people into categories and give into the temptation to use a kind of short hand with our descriptions. For example If I were to describe a man wearing an expensive well-tailored suit thinking this was a good way to simply describe someone who was wealthy and possibly persnickety about their clothing, maybe who wanted to dress to impress (all depending on the situation around said character) and then gave the general description to two of my uncles, one from each side of my family, one would immediately say, ‘Oh he must have an important job’ while the other would say ‘That is a man who should not be trusted.’ Same description, different view points. Which means sometimes our shorthand doesn’t match that others have in their heads. It is something to watch, and so these exercises practice with animals.
Because a cat stalking a butterfly is a cat stalking a butterfly.
And it gives practice describing what is there with fewer assumptions (hopefully). And it is something we can keep in mind once we get into the describing of people. And so…
Today’s writing exercise – Pick a lizard or something generally from the lizard like family. It can be a garden salamander, a Komoto dragon, it can even be a fantasy dragon if you are so inclined. Just remember no speaking (if your dragon is so inclined). Describe the appearance, the movements, the attitude and show our lizard-y friend as they maneuver through a situation.
As always, Happy Writing.
Ten til Midnight 