Week 4: Ultra Deep Field

[lilycobalt]

[Content note]Content note: References to rape.

Down, down, down we walked. If I allowed myself to, I could lose my sense of self among the descending throng before we ever reached the river. The farther we descended, the fewer differences distinguished the once-people surrounding me. All sizes and shapes melted and stretched into uniform gray rectangles that

Comments

[comedychick]

I think this is my favourite entry I've read of yours for Idol. The imagery is incredible and I enjoyed the story, too. Well done!

[lilycobalt]

Thanks a lot! :) I've noticed that the more unreal a fictional world I've created is (like the Underworld here, or the Dreamworld of some of my other stories), the easier it is for me to build up imagery and tell people just where the story takes place. I want to figure out how to do that for stories set in the real world or something like it.

[comedychick]

I guess it makes sense that it'd be harder to create that same sort of imagery in the real world, because there's a sense of familiarity to it for us that can make it harder to focus on what to write so other people know what is there too. Also, I know in my experience I don't write about everything you might be able to see in a room because I figure most people would know the typical things you might find in whatever kind of room it is, and I don't want to come across as bland, so unless it's important to the story, or characters are interacting with things there, I tend not to mention those sorts of details. But I am more inclined to want to know the details of what can be seen when it is less real, like you say.

[lilycobalt]

I've read before about making your setting a character in and of itself, but a more realistic setting (to me) often feels like one of those cliche stock characters who we all know too well. I do the same thing as you with not describing much about a room unless there's something out of the ordinary about it that I want to use to make a point. Same with things like the weather or the surrounding sounds, because I don't always know what the point is. So in a story with a more realistic setting, I turn away from description and toward dialogue.

[lauriempress]

I want to know moooore!

[lilycobalt]

This one feels complete to me, but I'm glad you're intrigued by it! (Though perhaps a follow up story about what you do when you control your own fate could be in order.)

[shadowwolf13]

I love how your words wrapped me up and drew me in.

[lilycobalt]

Thank you! :)

[lrig_rorrim]

I love a good Inanna / Persephone descent into Death story, and this is definitely a good one. Well imagined, beautifully told, and perfectly realized. Loved it!

[lilycobalt]

Thanks a lot! I've been hooked on Persephone since I was about eight, so once I thought of the world of the dead for this story, I automatically filled it up with mythological elements. I had fun with it :)

[jem0000000]

I liked this. :)

[lilycobalt]

Thank you! :)

[jem0000000]

You're welcome. :)