#writeblrr

So the above example was pretty much the gist of my whole post, but I would like to go into a little more detail about how to a) figure out what’s worth describing, and b) how to describe it from the perspective of your POV.

An oft-cited guideline in writing is that each time you move to a new location, you have to set the scene. The extent of that set-up will vary based on how many times we’ve been to that place, and how observant your POV is. 

Regardless, there are a few pretty universal questions for setting each scene:

Has the POV been to this place before? If so, how much time have they spent here? This is going to influence a few things. First, if they’ve been here often, they’re likely going to gloss over the familiar, and focus in on anything that’s different or that’s changed. They’re also going to have more memories attached, meaning you have the opportunity to describe things through the context of those memories (”the windows were pristine as always. The pane Emerie had smashed with her textbook last summer was swiftly replaced - the evidence wiped away.”). Because they have memories of the place, they’re also going to have emotions surrounding it. These emotions are going to influence the comparisons they make and what they call attention to, as well as word choice. If they haven’t been here before, they’re probably going to be comparing it to places they have been, and memories and emotions are going to be based on those tangential experiences. 

What is their emotional and physical state going into wherever this place? If it’s their first time going into this place, their state will drastically alter their first impressions and how they describe whatever they notice (ie: word choice: are words veering positive or negative?). If they’ve been to the place before, their current state is going to color what they notice, but they’ll have a baseline. If there’s relatively muted emotions connected to the place, it might override those emotions. They might channel their emotion through their reactions to the place. For example, if they’re angry, they might be really pissed that the chairs were moved because they liked the original setup. If they’re excited, they might not be bothered by the usually annoying grey walls. If they’re exhausted, they might not notice as much. If they don’t want to be here, that’s going to make a big difference

Beyond that, things start to get more specific to the circumstances.

Consider the character themself:

What is the character’s reason for coming here? This will influence what they focus on.

Is there anything major on their minds? See above.

Where do they spend a lot of their time? What are some of the most memorable things from their life to them? What places have they been that were similar to the place they’re currently at? All of these will influence what comparisons and descriptions they’ll use to describe where they are.

Also, consider the details of the setting:

Where are things spacially?

What’s the color scheme? What is visible immedietly from where the characters are entering, or from where the narration starts? What do things generally look like?

What can be heard? Are some sounds almost too quiet to hear? what are the louder ones? What do the sounds sound like?

What smells are there? Is it a mix, or is it overwhemingly one thing? 

What about feel? What’s the air like? Is it warm or cold? Is there a breeze/air flow, or is it more still? What about textures?

If there’s something to taste, what is it? what does it taste like? Is there anything that might be described as taste, even if it isn’t really?

Even if you don’t use all of this detail when you’re setting up the scene (and you probably shouldn’t), it’ll give you good material to choose from to keep things interesting.

For the details you think your character would notice first, or at least notice and think were important, how would they personally describe it? Are they deeply familiar with that smell, or do they have to resort to something else from their life it reminds them from? Or is it so foreign they only have adjectives with no memory attached to it to describe it? Is it something they find uplifting, or is it foul? 

A final note is to think about words and/or lingo your character’s learned. If they’re specialized in an area, they’re probably going to have picked up field-specific words, and be able to call items associated with the field by their proper name without really thinking, or they may use slang. For example, my main character has been a part of a secret military branch, and refers to pretty much all non-military individuals as civilians as her go-to word.