I wasn't a hundred percent sure where to put this so I presume it would be a safe bet to post it in setting development. My question being: do you like to set the scene with dialogue, or with plain description. This question is due to my reading of a few novels that start with one (or more) characters talking - in which they are describing the scene. This seems (I may be wrong) to be becoming quite a popular trend, and I wondered what people thought of it. In my opinion, I prefer plain description - and I tend to steer clear of dialogue when possible. However, this may not be everybody's opinion, so I thought I'd ask how people felt on the matter.
I think if you can make it good dialogue - that is, make it something the character would realistically say in that context - it can be effective to use dialogue to describe a scene. It gives you the chance to include characterization of someone other than your POV character, can show character dynamics and attitudes, etc. But I think it's pretty rare that characters would realistically give a lot of description of a scene, so I think most of the time it's better to keep the description in the narrative.
Yes, I'd find characters describing a scene a bit iffy. I can't honestly imagine how it could be justified and can't say it's something I've encountered.
I've seen it when one of them is new to a setting and the other is more experienced... like... "See over there? That big orange box? The one with no windows. That's the mess hall. Looks like a squared-off pumpkin, don't it? And then if you look right, there's nothing, nothing, nothing--you'd better get used to 'nothing' if you're going to stay on Alpha Base--and then that silver thing is the comm centre. See all the antennas? That middle one's called Big Dick. That going to make you blush?" etc.
Yes, that's my opinion aswell, I find it actually puts me off a book if the opening scene is described in such a way. I know it's a very traditionally way to go about things, but I always like to start by using plain and simple description before I introduce any sort of character - because otherwise all the attention is focused on the character, causing there to be more opinion on the character, rather than the scenery.
Mmm, yes. I'll accept this as an example of how it can be done without feeling awkward. In fact I'd quite like to read this. What happened next?
In my opinion, dialogue allows your characters to inject their personality into the description, especially if the story POV isn't 1st person. But, would it come up in conversation? I'm working on wind turbines at the moment. Its not uncommon to have a conversation about the weather or country side. When I worked in an advertising agency, that was not a topic of conversation. But, since appearance was an interest, we did talk about hair and clothing of this or that person. Also, to sound natural, descriptions has to be 'spooned out' in dialogue. There are exceptions. I'm working with a local guy who is also an amateur historian and storm chaser. One day, as we watched a storm front approaching, he talked me through the history of what we were looking at. He told me what tornadoes had hit, when and the damage. Honestly, it was one of the best setting descriptions I've never read, just me listening and this guy talking. Godspeed!
Michael Crichton and Jeffry Deaver have used the technique of scene setting via dialogue quite often. They'll have a character who's an expert in some niche subject (handwriting, aviation, magic, biology, etc.) and they'll have paragraphs of this person explaining settings, technology, scientific concepts, etc. to the main characters who have little to no background in the subject. Personally I don't mind it at all, though there are many who feel that it's ridiculously heavy-handed. I once used the technique it in a story where a character who's a barista is training a brand new employee on how they open up the shop every morning. I thought it worked well organically in the story, and I was lucky enough to have a friend who worked as a barista at a few different places explain how everything works and also beta the final version of that part of the story for accuracy.
You can do that if you're writing in omniscient POV. But if you're in close/limited 3rd person, or else in 1st, all the description will be filtered through your POV character. The reader will see the setting through his/her eyes, so he/she will have to be introduced before anything gets described.
I know I 'liked' @BayView's post, but I felt rather cheated to be honest. The premise suggested sci-fi, but turned out to be fantasy
Oh, they're called dragons, but they're mechanical creatures. That eat people. Steampunk, maybe. But Steampunk in space. With mechanical dragons. It's the next big thing, trust me.
