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I am having a lot of trouble with the opening for Chapter 2 of my novel. This is probably because I am attempting to insert too much detail into an already slow moving scene (all dialogue) of trying to describe the characters, this particular special hospital room's unique equipment and surroundings, and at the same time move the story along. Leaving out some of those details might solve my problem, but then I would have to characterize these important people later, after they have been involved in some fast action sequences.
And I don't want to do that.
It's a thorny situation, but I'll probably come up with a brilliant (or at least satisfactory) solution if I keep diddling around with it.
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Is Reality Really Real?
In an article, Michael Shermer asks: "Is Hawking right to claim that reality is dependent on the model used to describe it?"
In his new book, The Grand Design, co-authored with the Caltech mathematician Leonard Mlodinow, Hawking presents a philosophy of science he calls "model-dependent realism," which is based on the assumption that our brains form models of the world from sensory input, that we use the model most successful at explaining events and assume that the models match reality (even if they do not), and that when more than one model makes accurate predictions "we are free to use whichever model is most convenient."
Intriguing article.
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This morning I read the following:
"The bed was massive and so was the man. He wore a faded gray sweatshirt with washed-out blue cuffs and pocket. The shirt was tucked into the waistband of black woolen trousers that were frayed at the cuffs. Patchen wore blue, maroon and tan Argyle socks, but no shoes. His body seemed muscular and powerful; his face delicate and sensitive. His skin was white and his eyes were a deep blue-gray."
To some that brief passage is exactly how a writer should describe a character within a location.
But to me, as a reader, not necessarily as a writer, it is a waste of words and a waste of time. It seems to tell a lot while actually saying little of real substance. To say "the bed was massive and so was the man" is subject to reader interpretation. The word massive means something totally different to the male reader who is a 90 lb. weakling than it means to a reader who is a 6' 6" tall 300 lb. line backer for the Chicago Bears. The litany of what the character was wearing at the moment might be the truth, but it says nothing about the character's reasons for dressing in that specific manner, so who cares? His skin being white has no bearing on anything. And his eyes being 'a deep blue-gray' is superfluous.
But that is just an example of my style of reading. I tend to skip (or briefly scan) long descriptions.
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Now that's a freakin' sandwich . . .
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It's getting late, a little after 7 A.M. and I'm chompin' at the bit. Gotta get to work on my novel.
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The ninety-pound line backer had blue-gray skin and ate freakin' sandwiches. He owned no patience for wasting time wearing argyle socks, reading descriptions of special hospital rooms that contained unique equipment, or diddling around with thorny situations. Instead, he preferred writing fast-action sequences about woolen trousers and stinky bare feet. He wanted most of all to die on a massive bed.
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