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Q&A In what order should I describe a setting?

I don't know if there's a rule, but I have a meta-rule: the description has to follow an eye-line. That is, everything is described in the order that a person might see it. So I might start with ...

posted 13y ago by Malvolio‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Answer
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T01:33:17Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/2599
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar Malvolio‭ · 2019-12-08T01:33:17Z (over 4 years ago)
I don't know if there's a rule, but I have a meta-rule: the description has to follow an eye-line. That is, everything is described in the order that a person might see it. So I might start with the sky, then the trees then the dirt; or the outside of the building, then the doorway, the foyer, the corridor, and then the room. Something to give the user a sense of _movement_.

I'm basically aping the camera motion from a movie, which may or may not be a good thing in itself, but at least it give me -- and maybe the reader -- some structure.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2011-04-24T07:15:06Z (about 13 years ago)
Original score: 5