I'm trying to describe reaching for something in a tight spot and struggling to do so. (e.g. dropped wallet/phone in between car seat) Also I want to describe finally reaching this object, but carefully lifting it up with two fingers and barely holding on. Any examples? Some help?
I don't know, how important is it? I'd just describe the person straining to reach it, and maybe "pinching" or "scissoring" the object loosely with their index and middle fingers, hoping it doesn't fall as they pull it out. It's sort of a real life version of the game 'Operation' but that may not be recognizable to a lot of readers, and some say to avoid such decade specific metaphors. The way objects are grabbed this way is similar to the proper way to handle stones in the game of Go but few would get that. There are of course, sexual metaphors but you probably don't want to go there.
Maybe describe your character's frustration at doing it as well. He can touch it, but there isn't enough room for him to grab hold of it, so he has to coax it out ...maybe with only one hand underneath, pushing upwards, to be finally grabbed by the other hand. Or maybe he needs to find some tool inside the car to help lever it out ...like a screwdriver, etc. Like @Bruce Johnson said, though, it depends on how important it is for us to 'watch' the process. I can relate to this, by the way. I recently dropped a window key down between the wall and the radiator under the window ...and there was a carpet to deal with, and the key got lodged partly under the edge of the carpet. And a magnet on a string wouldn't work because the radiator is metal. It literally took me over an hour of extreme frustration to finally work it out from that spot. I now have umpteen things attached to the key, so if this ever happens again (and it might, because there is a gap between the window sill and the radiator) there will be umpteen things to grab on to. The key won't be in danger of sliding under the carpet again, at least. And yes, I have a spare key. But only one. Long story....
It might not work near a radiator, but I got one of those collapsible antennae looking magnets from the hardware store (auto parts stores may have them too). I dropped a screw driver down a walk in shower drain (was cleaning out all that disgusting stuff) and the magnet wand picked it up easily. It was a small screw driver though.
I think the frustration is when you can't see it, but you can feel it at the tip of your fingers. Maybe you would try to hook it with your finger or the old Macgyver sticky gum might work.
Almost got it. Almost ... not quite. My beefy hands were useless. I wished momentarily for springy bones like a mouse so I could squash my hand down just one more inch. I could feel my fingertips brushing the damn phone and held my breath that I wouldn't accidently push it down farther. Any second .... now. Any - I clamped two fingers gingerly over the edge - easy does it - and gently tugged. - Example. I'd just go with inner emotion & action and intercut between the two for tension.
30 years ago I could've stuck my whole arm in there no problem. Now I can barely squeeze my damn hand in, and just holding this awkward position is killing me! Working my fingers closer, almost got it now. Damn, really? Just this kind of exertion is all it takes now to make my heart rate to go up and my side start to hurt? In a few seconds I'll either be able to grab it or I'm gonna pass out and probably break my damn wrist when I fall over. Got it!! Careful, this is a really bad 2-finger grip, no thumb involved. I could drop it at any second and it might wedge itself in even worse. Gotta just put up with all the discomfort a few seconds more, or however long it takes. Shit, now my head's starting to pound. Am I gonna have a damn heart attack? I have no idea of the age or physical condition of your protagonist, this might be way off the mark. But it was fun to write! It's too wordy, but I like to start that way and whittle down till I find it. Feel free to treat it like a block of stone and Michelangelo it till it fits your situation.
Definitely this I like the part I bolded. And even better followed up 2 or 3 sentences later with actually pushing it down further. the biggest thing I think is to make sure the character with LITERALLY DIE (said with a teenage girl voice) if they can't get the object RIGHT NOW. Like, wife and husband had a shouting match after the death of the son, and husband storms out. Wife throws her phone at the half painted nursery wall, and it falls in an open floor vent (register removed because the were redoing the carpet or whatever). Hours later, she hears it ring and she knows its her husband, and knows she has one last chance to pick up and hold on to the one thing that is still good in her life...
Similar to what @jannert and @peachalulu said, I think the internal process of doing should be a major part of the description if you are focusing on that. Especially since it not only elegant writing compared to detailed physical descriptions, which can get boring quick, it also emphasises a more plot relevant point. If this is at a low point for the character, focusing on their frustration with it and the way it feels tedious to them would help to convey a straw-that-breaks-the-camels-back vibe.
it was there, he knew it was there, the cool metal of it teased the tip of his finger. He laid on the floor, feeling the grime of years of dirt digging into his cheek, and pushed just a little bit more with his toes. He stifled a sneeze as the cat hair wafted through the air towards his nose with every huffy breath he took. Carefully he snagged the tiny lip of the key with his fingernail and slid it up the wall, millimeter by millimeter until he was able to flick it away from the wall enough to pull it out of its dusty hiding place As others have said, it's how much detail you want that particular action or sequence to have.
Since this is a forum for improving writing, and especially since we are in Word Mechanics, I have to point out that this should be "He lay on the floor, ..." With the logic that is typical of English, the past tense of "lie" (meaning to recline, not to prevaricate) is "lay," but the past tense of "lay" is "laid." I lie on the beach ==> I lay on the beach. I lay tile for a living ==> I laid tile for a living.
The claw version is also very useful. I have a couple of 30-inch ones, one in the garage and the other tucked away on the end of a bookshelf. They're thinner than a pencil, stiff but flexible, and have a 4-finger steel spring claw at one end that opens by pressing a plunger at the other end.
