Imagine your own armored knights storming through the battlefield like iron giants. If your character comes home and immediately sheds three layers of down and fleece, Im going to assume theyre not in San Antonio, Texas. One thing Ive always wondered is if someone wearing plate could fall down just right in a muddy battlefield, and get stuck there in the same way a large flat rock gets stuck laying in mud. Join Kickstart your Novel and get professional feedback on your first three chapters and story synopsis, plus workbooks and videos. A warrior had to fight the enemy, and to fight his armor as well would be too distracting. I used to be under the mindset that describing attire was boring and it was better to let the reader fill in those details but especially with the novel Im working on now, I have used clothing to portray more about their character. They looked something like this: One of the main defensive strengths of plated armor came from its curved design, which deflected both blades and arrows. A simple t-shirt could be cut diagonally in the front, give both shoulder parts a different style from the arms, elongate one side and so on. I tried to add as much variety as possible, but without turning the whole description into a mess. Does your character need to hide? Finally there's the aspect of fashion to take into account. Once blue, it is quenched a second time, permanently fixing its hardness. Characters can also comment on or react to one anothers clothing, as long as the exchange reveals something about the world or relationship. Are they overalls or coveralls? Most picture the knight when we talk about plated armorrigid tin men that can withstand all manner of blows. I'm sort of into historical armor so would get a kick out of finding an excuse to talk about vambraces/rerebraces, spaulders, etc. It was pretty easy to make, though laborious, and easy to repair.
And above all, people share their writing, get feedback, build friendships and develop greater confidence not just in their writing, but in themselves too. Love this topic!! Improving Google Rankings With Keywords And Content, Tips On How To Make An Essay More Engaging, A fantasy writers guide to weaponry Richie Billing, A fantasy writers guide to Castles and Keeps: part one Richie Billing, The Life of the Medieval Lord - Richie Billing, How To Create Your Very Own Living Breathing Fantasy World - Richie Billing, Fantasy Races - The Ultimate Guide To Elves, Orcs and Dwarves | Richie Billing, Killer Diseases of the Middle Ages | Richie Billing, Medieval Cannons: The Essential Guide | Richie Billing, On Writing: Fantasy Without Magic Of Metal and Magic Publishing, The Lives Of Medieval Peasants - Richie Billing, Fantasy Weapons - Medieval, Magic And Other Types - Richie Billing, Great Examples Of The 5 Senses In Writing, 5 Mistakes Men Can Make Writing Women Characters, The Power of Words: Essay Writing Techniques, Mastering Body Language With Former FBI Agent Joe Navarro, A Lawyer's Perspective On Writing Fantasy, Do you want to grow your mailing list, check out.
Writing Tips on Describing Clothes - Pen and the Pad Dr. Urbino in Marquezs example above fits the latter category. This is often enough to make something look more futuristic, especially if used on something that looks glossy, shiny and/or smooth. Privacy Policy. Also try searching cool fantasy armor, or epic fantasy armor. Its not an aspect of character design that bubbles up naturally from the depths of my creative soul. All cultures have dress codes to some degree, some more so than others and some more stricter than others, but every culture has a range of styles that would be considered normal, 'out there' and unacceptable to most. But even regular elements can help with this. We see the contrast between the characters friends reaction and the advisory words of Gems aunt. Or at least they know what century theyre in. Wearing a suit of armor was like being in your own private world. See how Dickens contrasts the fact-obsessed, overbearingteacher Thomas Gradgrind and his wifes personalities through (among other details) their clothing description. Knights werent as immobile as people assum, though I can imagine in a quagmire itd be tricky to get up. Follow edited Jun 17, 2020 at 9:43. With historical fiction one interesting aspect is to bring back the reader to that time period. Tell us how the wool of your protagonists sheath dress scratches the skin on the underside of her arm. Each lesson breaks down the analysis of one component of a fashion collection, progressing from a consideration of the designer's technique and influences to the . For example, fur usually wasn't used as a piece of decoration for clothing and if used at all was often worn around the neck and shoulders or underneath other (often hide) clothing to keep warm. But it can also be fun to play with the confidence and ease that comes with wealth. Do they need a ghillie suit to blend into the natural environment? On occasion, Abi pretends to be a poet. If your protagonist is donning a tri-cornered hat, loosening a corset, or strutting through town in a new toga, your reader has a good sense of time period. Mail was lightweight and flexible. Think touchable fabrics and the light scent of lavender soap. A four-layer, bubble-gum pink taffeta skirt. Help your readers feel the relaxed, organic cotton or the memory foam slipper, and theyll feel your characters priorities deep in their own souls. or the world theyre desperately resisting. I dont mean camisoles and cardigans. (Huh.). In fact, you should be putting lots of thought and development into protagonists because thats who the story is about.But how much thought have you given to your tertiary characters? I never thought of there being a uniform for Midwestern ladyness. This includes items like steel-toed boots, heavy denim, or tech-forward, snag-resistant superhero spandex. But as the show moved forward the suit got more ragged the jacket was open, then gone, the shirt cuffs undone, half the buttons undone and I think by the end when he was on the cross the shirt was gone. What also worries me is that in Chapter 3 I used a lot of descriptions of the house, like the main characters room and then I had him go to various other rooms, looked at pictures of his family he has yet to meet so chapter 3 had the least story development or social scenes but the ones it had were good ones and I ended it with a scene that creates more development and story hype. One of her poems is (legally) stamped into a sidewalk in Santa Clarita, California. - "Digital look". Thanks I will be following your blog from now one I just came across it today. Your trust fund character might be completely confident showing up to a party in board shorts and flip-flops. Clothing description in a story is useful because it often gives additional information about a character that you might otherwise tell.
How to Describe Clothes in English - ESL Advice But let's take a step back and look at what kind of clothing is usually associated with futuristic settings. Clothing description also presents an opportunity to play with different points of view. Here are a few different types: We mentioned gambesons above. In both of these it was mostly the rich who had the extravagant clothing, which brings back the earlier point of how culture influences what a character might wear. Stylish: Elegant and sophisticated clothing to grab attention. for any particular parts of an outfit. The fact that Whether its a beekeeping suit, climbing helmet, knee pads, or sun-protective fabric, what your character wears provides a clue about whats at stake in the coming scene. With all that armor, its often assumed the medieval knight was immobile. 70s-inspired. With the major shapes in the thumbnails defined, choose the one that best exemplifies the feeling you're looking for. Similarly, find out (or, if youre creating a fantasy world, create) the garments your characters would wear in a particular time and place. Theyre the kind of thing that often happen organically, but you can actually make use of character secrets to make your stories better. It can be as simple as making a dress shorter, a jacket longer or sleeves wider and longer. Helmets were arguably the most distinctive feature of an armored knight. Share. The landladys dress highlights, by contrast, the downward spiral of Katerinas fortunes, and she responds to the landladys prideful clothing with her own wounded pride: Look at her, shes making round eyes, she feels that we are talking about her and cant understand. The more outlandish the fantasy species your character is the more outlandish you can usually be with clothing, but familiarity is usually still a solid ground for a realistic feel, even if the universe and the creatures are completely unrealistic. Characters wear more than just clothes. Normally I dont dress characters with such complex clothing that takes more than a few sentences to describe but the vest was inspired by a picture I saw and it took at least a paragraph to describe. Stylish. The good news is that attire is not only important, its also kind of fun when you start digging into it. Trendy: Modern, fashionable, and up-to-date outfits. Compare this, then, to Dickens description of Gradgrinds wife in the following chapter (Gradgrinds wealthy but poverty-claiming friend has just told Mrs. Gradgrind he was born in a ditch): Mrs. Gradgrind, a little, thin, white, pink-eyed bundle of shawls, of surpassing feebleness, mental and bodily; who was always taking physic without any effect, and who, whenever she showed a symptom of coming to life, was invariably stunned by some weighty piece of fact tumbling on her; Mrs. Gradgrind hoped it was a dry ditch? Its something readers definitely appreciate, which I found with Pariahs Lament. Clothing description is something I have to actively choose to create, too. Mail was one of the first types of metal armor developed, arguably by the Celts, though other sources say its origins came from Eastern Europe. In reality, a medieval lord could pretty much do what they liked.
Describing clothes : writing - reddit Lets take a look at some ways you can develop those unique ideas: In this section, well take a look at some cool pieces of knight armor in fantasy that people have designed over the years, to give you even more inspiration for your own designs. In one single piece of clothing description (a pink-eyed bundle of shawls), Dickens conveys how timid and ailing Mrs. Gradgrind is in contrast to her bullish, overbearing husband. You can weave clothing description into your process when using our story planner for writers. Those of us who dont get all jazzed about writing clothing descriptions often fail to consider that a good wardrobe has layers. Are the characters of your dystopian novel forced to make do with burlap and mud? Theyre just too important defensively. This article was very helpfulcan you post some examples of showing versus telling when describing clothing? Maybe your character heads out on the town wearing a daring leopard print jumpsuit, only to have their best friend immediately ask where they got the kitty costume..