@Auxuris, we have our own characters (all our stories have at least 2 MCs), so while we write our own MCs and side characters, we offer suggestions to one another (implementing them is up to the "owner" of said character) and plot and build worlds together. We do it mostly by ear, but over the past 5-6 years, we've developed an almost intuitive way of writing together and sometimes it does feel like we share one brain.
Aww, shucks. I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later when you put two very like-minded writers in the same house for long enough.
"medianoche" - isn't that a midnight snack???? That's like voodoo, right? Mystical magic without any other explanation. It's got to be magic!
I could see that as a possible etymology for the name of this sandwich, though it's more likely to be seen showing up at the lunch hour of a good bakery. The ingredients that go into one do have a "I'm hungry, what's left in the fridge" sort of haphazardness to them. I would have to do a little research to confirm, though.
Now, about describing clothing. Sometimes, it just takes up space but, sometimes, it helps to define the character or contribute to a situation. Some clothing 'sets' come with a certain stereotype and can help the show the reader something about the person whose clothing you are describing. Consider the image of a ninja. AH! Just say the word and a specific wardrobe comes to your mind, doesn't it? And the "used car salesman"? So let's flip this and look at the other side. How about a woman wearing too much make-up, stiletto heels, a skirt far too short for her years, and a top too tight, accentuating her bustline. Add a walk that's a bit too much sway and you've got a visual of a "business woman". And the guy who grabs his jeans from the floor beside his bed, reaches into the bottom of his closet, sniffs at a few shirts and grabs the least malodorous sweatshirt in the heap. WOW! This guy has more important things on his mind than his wardrobe obviously and, maybe everything in his life is more important than his wardrobe! Tells us a lot about his priorities or his lack thereof, eh? Sometimes describing a person's clothing can serve more than one purpose. Actually, in creative writing, it had better serve more than one purpose or you are probably just wasting space. And, too, sometimes, it's just not necessary, it does not matter what the character is wearing and the reader, unless advised otherwise, will simply assume your characters are not naked!
Actually, yeh. That is the etymology of it. Well, sort of. Middle of the night - midnight snack... But, who's to say you have to have a midnight snack at midnight? They turned lunch into brunch when it was breakfast and lunch combined, right? So... if midnight snacks work better a few hours later... eh. Who's to complain?
Sometimes clothing doesn't matter, sometimes it does to serve story or characterization via the description of said clothing. How they describe the clothes says alot of about they see things. It's all helping to paint a picture.
For me I usually limit my descriptions of clothes to two instances. The first is when it directly impacts what is going on in the story right as it's happening. A good example is when one of my characters is injured and needs her shoulder bandaged. To do that they have to unbuckle the leather armor she is wearing. It's relevant to the character's actions and it gives one of the first clues to the setting the story takes place in; a time before Kevlar when boiled hides were used for lightweight armor. The second is when my POV character is sizing up another character, especially if he/she is encountering them for the first time. If the same character I mentioned above is standing in a room and someone walks in wearing a crisp officer's uniform she is going to snap to attention. If she stumbles across someone in the woods wearing a patchwork of smelly animal skins she is going to assume they are some sort of trapper or woodsman. Basically you want to describe clothing when it adds something to the story. Don't just take a paragraph for each character/scene to rattle off a list of what everyone is wearing. That'll get old fast. If you feel like descriptions are really necessary, try keeping them succinct- "A ballroom full of people adorned in their best finery." "She was forced to dress herself in mismatched rags stolen off the line from local farmhouses." You don't have to go into painstaking detail, just give your readers a starting point and let them paint the picture for themselves.
I haven't described my MC's physical appearance or clothing at all up to this point. Why? It's had no bearing on the story thus far. I might toss some in if it's important, say it was ten below outside and she was stranded on the side of the road wearing only a hoodie and blue jeans.
I just recently described one of my MC's appearance just to give the feel of her being an angelic like being.
Work into describing it. Like don't make post with that purpose. Just mention it. Like "Nick rubbed the grease off onto his bomber jacket."
