My story is almost entirely on a snowy winter landscape. Each scene is a different area, but again, it's still winter time! I have been going through my chapters, and the setting description is nearly repetitive in the last couple chapters. There's only so many ways to describe snowy mountains, grass and trees. What are your thoughts? Must we describe the settings in each chapter when they're similar, despite being in different locations? (So the north and south of a mountain range, with different characters on each side for example...) If I have already described the north, it would then be in the reader's head, could they then just accept the settings are the same on the south, and merely hear the story progression and dialogue?
I certainly wouldn't repeat similar descriptions of similar landscapes, no. I generally try to only record what my POV character would be noticing, and if the landscape's the same, she wouldn't be noticing any of it.
If I might provide a suggestion, not all snowy landscapes look alike. They can have different amounts and types of foliage, they could be completely barren with stone jutting out from beneath the snow. You could describe an animal at certain places, or compare it to other areas that character has been to and describe them instead. Other options include having items that might be there. Not every landscape is natural.
The Eskimo culture has 50 different words for snow! My advice is this: Come up with a list of 50 different descriptions for snow, and/or unusual metaphors for it. I'll help you out with some common ones: Soft, fluffy snow vs compact snow Icy snow and melting snow Mounds/mountains of snow A smooth blanket of snow Snow like clouds come down from the sky to cover the land Snow making fractal patterns on the window Pale snow Deep snow vs a shallow coating Snow falling like ash
This might help too: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/there-really-are-50-eskimo-words-for-snow/2013/01/14/e0e3f4e0-59a0-11e2-beee-6e38f5215402_story.html?utm_term=.72769d08b8b5
I like this answer. I have two characters living in different parts of a country but both situated in mountain territory. While his mountains are grey and boulder-like, her mountains are filled with forest and green. The way I imagine it, it's part of the same mountain range so there's not that much to tell besides what I've just said. I try to focus on the differences. He notices the green, she notices the grey. The rest is up and down hills like they're used to.
