Words, words, words

[la_marquise]

How, she asked parenthetically to writing, is it that I manage both to overwrite and to underwrite at the same time?
Frinstance: "Here, in their private place, he walked unveiled and unarmed, long plait swinging loose down his back, clad in light green tunic and trousers. Only the twisting line of braid at collar and cuffs marked his status. Corn ears and rice fronds, for bannerman. And, bordering them, the pale blue coil that marked air. Cadre, leader of two thousand, intimate of the Grass King, domained in air." Which is all very fancy, but makes no sense unless you know what I mean by banners and cadre and domainings. Which I haven't explained at this point. Bah, she muttered. Humbug, even. (That's Sujhien, btw, Mr Air-Powers-and-Angry.)

Skirt of the day: jeans, I was lazy this morning.

Comments

[hrj.livejournal.com]

That's the sort of description that I call "forced pre-supposition". That is, you describe some detail that clearly requires a much larger and more elaborate structure ... but by not providing that structure, the reader has to create a virtual projection of it into which to fit the detail.

Alas, whether a reader loves or hates that type of description seems to be entirely arbitrary. I love it, but I've sometimes found myself having to explain those projected structures to other people who either don't like to (or can't) create them.

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

It's the sort of thing that makes my writing group say 'Make sense, Kari', sadly. And sometimes my editor, too. I am not good at remembering that the reader doesn't know everything in my head.