I am writing a scene that requires the readers to “see” it the right way (all the scenes I am writing must be seen as well). I know what the scene is about and I outlined it the way I like it. My problem is that whenever I describe the scene, the visualization seems to be vague, making the plot looks fake. Does anyone ever get that problem where they write a scenery description of what the readers need to see? In a scene, I am writing about a dude driving alone in the highway and he gets killed when a reckless driver crashes into his car. And it seems the the readers would question the plot and wouldn’t believe that it wouldn’t happen in real life (though the subplot is not the focal point of the entire story), so they would quit reading it. Anyone have any ideas on how to make narrative descriptions liner and realistic? By the way, I think I meant to post this in the General Writing section.
I'm going to take a shot and what I think you're asking... But I need to know.. Is it third person limited/omniscient, first person?
Youniquee, it's written in third person limited, and then it graduallly switches to third person omniscient when the plot becomes complex. Many characters will play a role in the same scene, which is why it may be in omniscient. I'm trying to get an idea of how we could allow the readers to see exactly what the narrator (not the character alone) sees, and I don't want them to see something the way the writer doesn't mean the readers to see it.
That's kind of hard because no matter what you write, every reader is going to see it differently. Most people know how a car crash looks like in there minds so you don't need to go into detail. Focus on how that person felt before they died, the urgency of it and maybe after that character is dead describe the scene that was left behind after the car crashed to emphasize it was tragic. I don't know if that answered your question...I hope it did..
If you're aiming for the readers to really envision the scene, make sure to capture the emotion of the event. I've been in a minor accident once, but I was still in a state of panic in those short few seconds - a panic that makes three seconds seem like an eternity. Everything else is just buzz and blur at that point - what you see, what you hear. My mom was screaming at me to hit the brakes, and I hadn't really heard her; I only know she did because she told me after the fact. There were two other people with us as well, and I don't know if they said or did anything or not. Reality can get a little warped, when something suddenly unexpected pops up and can potentially kill you in the next few seconds.
