How detailed are your environments?

[CountVanBadger]

Both when you're writing and reading. For me, I'm pretty good at describing the environments my scenes are set in, but I'm bad at making them "look" cool. The scenery is usually just a backdrop for what the characters are doing. That goes for when I'm reading, too. A book will have a castle, and I'll imagine this:

But when the movie, graphic novel, or even basic fanart comes out, it'll look like this:

Does anyone else have that problem?

 

[Grizzly18]

Honestly not really. I mean HP makes it pretty clear that Hogwarts is massive so while the details were obviously different from what I pictured in my head the scale was correct. I think your problem is expectations. I’m also pretty sure that isnt much of a castle more of a fort. I would do some research on castle design. People expect Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany (real life inspiration of the Disney castle) not something that looks a step up from a wooden fort knocked up in a week. So practice with real life and maybe look around Imgur or something for some fantasy castle and try describing them. The only way you’ll get better is trying failing and trying again. Good luck and keep writing.

 

[CountVanBadger]

I would do some research on castle design.

That was just an example. I didn't make this thread to say "Help, I don't know what castles are."

 

[Hans.Trondheim]

I just write stuff that gives a reader an idea of what I'm talking about; not uberly-detailed, and not so general in description.

After all, I'm after the 'smooth' transition of things in my narration.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

I give the reader the details I feel are vital - or unusual. Anything else is up to them to create from that foundation.

 

[AnEmberOfSundown]

I tend to focus on sensory details more than appearance. Smell is one that I think people often forget about but can do a lot of heavy lifting in the reader’s imagination with very few words needed.

 

[McPhoenixDavid]

Depends on the story.

This one for a noble's Castle or something:

View attachment 45197

This one for the Demon King's castle:

View attachment 45198

A Magical Academy:

View attachment 45199

Something related to darkness or evil, I guess?

View attachment 45200
View attachment 45201

Does anyone else have that problem?

But when it comes to me writing it: I just write a 50-100 words' worth of description. Unless it is irrelevant to the story. If I am drawing it, it usually the 3rd picture, so that the readers can get a clear image.

 

[Kraken1]

When I imagine a castle I also tend to think of something similar to the first image which is often the prime example of a medieval castle castle (Bodiam castle?) For me places like Neuschwanstein Castle only come up if it's described as a Palace (which it technically is) or described in alot of detail.

I try to give the necessary details or give enough for the reader to imagine it how they think it is. I only provide alot of detail when it's important to the story. It's hard to make the reader imagine what you want the place to look like without an image, so I let them imagine what they want unless a specific detail is necessary.

 

[Joyager2]

I'm generally pretty vague about place descriptions, unless the layout of a place is especially important. I like to leave a lot of room for interpretation and I find that the more I try to nail down on the page the specifics of how a place, person, or thing looks in my mind, the more I wind up straying from it. Instead, I give the necessities and trust my reader to fill in the blanks, both in ways that suit them and in ways that, I'm sure, are better than I would have thought of myself.

 

[Eldoria]

Does anyone else have that problem?

I prefer having the protagonist explore the castle and provide immersion, rather than explaining the castle's details descriptively. I only narrate the worldbuilding as far as the story requires.

 

[tiaf]

You leave it to the imagination of the reader

 

[MFontana]

I tend toward being very vivid and detailed in my descriptions, of everything in my stories.
From the viewpoints of the PoV character(s). If the character(s) can't see it, hear it, feel it, taste it, or smell it, I don't describe it though.
As far as castle-scenes go, the closest that I have (publicly available) for reference is the PoC (Proof-of-Concept) scene for Aethara: The King's Path.
It is an early rough-draft of a rough draft, so it still needs a lot of polish, which I'll get to when I actually get up to writing that chapter.

The important thing is perspective, and to keep things active and moving forward, even when the pace is deliberately slow.

Aethara: The King's Path - Proof of Concept

Spoiler: PoC Excerpt

The many-pillared hall of the citadel’s antechamber stretched out before him as he stood upon the first threshold. Marble statues of unknown warriors lining the hall between the pillars flanking his path, their cold and lifeless eyes cast forever forward. The nameless and eternal Honor Guard watching over all who would approach the grand hall of this, the Forsaken Citadel.

Torches hanging upon walls cast the chamber in their warm golden light while the six crystalline chandeliers hanging overhead caught and reflected that light and set their rainbows dancing upon the polished black marble stonework of the hall.

‘The Hall of the Nameless’ He and Rorik had decided to call it, in honor of those whom the statues represented, and now looking upon it in person, he truly came to respect its grandeur, as the antechamber to the Grand Hall, it couldn’t have been more fitting for the small size of his guild.

With a steadying breath, Marius locked his bright topaz-blue eyes on the ornate doors at the far side of the antechamber, and took the first step on the road that would forever change his life. The soft clack of his heel upon stone echoed through the room, but did not deter him from the path ahead.

One firm step blending into the next, his path took him down the center of the hall, and right up to the massive wooden doors now barring his way ahead, locked through the very same magic that guarded the sanctity of his private chambers, and those of his guild-mates here in the hall.

Balling his right hand into a fist as his spade-tipped tail slashed the air behind him, he brought his signet ring up level with the door; pressing it firmly against the unyielding wood. A soft hum filled his senses, vibrating up through his arm as the warding runes alit upon the door enveloping it in a soft amber glow. With a groan that echoed in the hall, the heavy doors swung inward, opening wide the way to the Grand Hall of the Citadel to its master, beckoning him; enter.

The Grand Hall, ever a reflection of its Master’s heart and will now awaited him. Its ornate obsidian pillars, adorned with twisting rivers of gold and silver, lined the hall. Translucent white crystals hung throughout, flaring to life as if sensing the arrival of their master. Shimmering, they bathed the chamber before him in their soft light, reminiscent of the full harvest moon.

On the floor stretched out before him, as if to show him the way forward lay the deep crimson carpet its golden filigree reflecting that light in delicate pulsing waves, as if inviting him in while invariably calling his gaze up to the raised dais and the ornate gothic throne that sat empty upon it.

Yet, it was not the hall, its lighting, the carpet marking his path, or even the throne of carved black marble that truly demanded his attention. That glory went solely to the striking visage of the woman standing beside it, her head bowed low, long crimson hair flowing like a waterfall off her shoulder.

The silhouette of her flawless figure further accented by the feathered wings of the deepest scarlet folded neatly against her bare back that would have cast her as an angel if not for the ebon horns crowning her head.

 

[DeOwl]

Well, I try to describe interiors, simply because I like to. Though at this point I should probably make toug schematics to keep track of everything that was once written.
As for large structures, I *try* not to focuse on them, as I believe that the general surroundings around the character are the most important. What they can see, what they can touch, hear, smell, etc.
Doesn't matter that much if it is a corridor with a ceiling of 4 or 8 meter im height, unless you want to make the ceiling so low that it feels claustrophobic or so high it makes the character feel small in comparison.
Almost everything, for me, is viewed though the lens of how would it impact the character / how would he rwact to this or that

 

[LiteraryWho]

I prefer, both when writing and reading, to have as few details as are necessary to understand the scene. Even when I have a very clear picture in my mind of what a place looks like, I prefer to only include the details relevant to the action that's about to happen. If you took all my scene descriptions that I've ever written, I think you'd be lucky to break the four digit mark.

The only exception I'd make is for "in-character" descriptions, where the person describing the scene adds commentary, which reveals things about them.

 

[Envylope]

My environments aren't that detailed. Just enough to paint broad strokes in people's heads, and let them imagine the rest.

 

[autumnsugar]

Giving details about the scenery is something I struggle with personally, so I tend to just give vital information and hope the readers can imagine the rest lol.

 

[C.Details]

When I'm writing a scene, I tend to do a little research first. Find the most relevant details, find a few images and write about the more unique or different features.

Of course sometimes you want to get to the plot so you can either give the name. For example saying elevator or Pendant Lighting instead of describing it, letting your reader look up what it is. Or you can have your characters interacting with the scene like staring into a moat , cleaning up a stable.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

I mean, I do have detailed ideas of how some locations look - in Between Earth and Pyrroth, the Temple of Rhyvven looks a lot like that first castle image, except built into a mountain with about 1/3 of it underground.
The palace of the Eternal Emperor of D'Gar has shorter towers, and one side is pressed against a stone cliff, but otherwise it looks a lot like the last image there.
If the characters ever travel to the Throne City of Sadrahanal, though... then I'll have to describe things in detail. The city was originally three towns, located at different sections on a delta. The first king of the region combined two of the towns into one via massive bridges. The guy who deposed him managed to combine all three before he was assassinated. The region progressed without a real ruler for almost two decades, during which the bridges were built up more, and people began constructing houses alongside the bridges. Some were floating structures, others anchored.
When a new ruler arrived, he built a palace (much like the second image in the first post) in the center of it all, one of the greatest engineering feats of his age.
Then some local merchants built houses that were taller than the castle... After the king beheaded the first two, and tore down their homes, he realized this tactic was only a short term one, and had the bridges built up again. Using them as a foundation, he built a larger palace that towered over everything, and which would require either magic or importing a lot of materials from distant lands to even come close to eclipsing.
Then the so-called Assassin King took over, and the Treaty States were formed, leading (after five generations) to the "modern" political set-up (which gets complicated)... But the city itself is an engineering wonder, and the castle even moreso, even two hundred or so years after its construction...

 

[ysgoldt]

I really love describing scenery, and have to be very careful not to overdo it. But here is an example (after editing):

The street curved north, following what had once been a main thoroughfare. Buildings rose on either side, their facades stripped down to skeletal frames. Morning light filtered through now-empty windows, casting grid patterns across the pavement.