SWRT 264 | Writing Physicality

September 8, 2022

person typing on MacBook Pro on brown wooden table during daytime photo

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Robert, & Kathryn get physical (and you won’t believe the scenes that get Robert in trouble!). When you need your characters to do something involving specific bodily movements, how can you create choreography that delivers the precise image you want in the reader’s mind, then move beyond choreography to create a felt experience in your reader’s body?

Do you have a WIP that would benefit from group coaching? Check out Alida’s fall session and join us today!

VIDEO

AUDIO

SHOW NOTES

What we talked about:

How do you put your character in motion? (0:41)

Find the detail. (4:07)

Moving from choreography to story. (6:03)

Stretch out your time. (8:07)

Bring in the surrounding world. (8:43)

Don’t write a manual. (10:26)

The less familiar something is, the more you need to describe it. (14:15)

What if you use the same physicality throughout the book? (15:25)

Use beginners mind. (16:05)

How do you get it right? (18:10)

Remember your reader. (20:45)

Does it serve a purpose in the plot? (22:32)

Go and do something to bolster your descriptive skills. (25:10)

LINKS

Get Alida’s Writing Tips here.

Things we mentioned:

Tom Clancy
Enders Game by Orson Scott Card
Harry Potter
Chris Hadfield Crying in Space
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Have thoughts, questions, other examples? Join the conversation at the Story Works Writers Facebook group.

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About Your Hosts

Alida Winternheimer is an award-winning author with an MFA in writing from Hamline University. She pursues her fervor for all things story as a writing coach, developmental editor, and teacher. Three times nominated for the Pushcart Prize, she is also a notable in Best American Essays and winner of the Page Turner Award. Author of The Story Works Guide to Writing Fiction Series, Alida lives and writes in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She camps, bikes, and kayaks in her free time. Unless it’s winter, in which case she drinks chai by the fire. You can find more at www.alidawinternheimer.com.

Kathryn Arnold writes fantasy and anything else that sparks her creativity from her home in Kingston, Washington. She currently earns her living as an insurance underwriting assistant, where she also creates marketing and web copy. When not writing, she plays (and teaches) piano and keyboard in a band (or two), and is working on starting a ministry team with her husband. You can find Kathryn at www.skyfirewords.com.

Robert Scanlon was born in Australia, but whisked off to England when only a baby. After many years complaining about the weather, he did the sensible thing and moved back to Australia. Despite a career in the music industry, followed by decades teaching public speaking, Robert is an introvert who adores reading. Robert grew up on a diet of sci-fi masters, eventually discovering he had read the library’s entire science fiction section. Now he has to write his own. Robert is the author of Constellation, book one of the Blood Empire space opera series. Find out more at www.RobertScanlon.com