Back in September, I published Emotional Beats: How to Easily Convert your Writing into Palpable Feelings. As promised, I will be posting the book on my blog. So, here is the next installment, continuing Part 3 of the book: Other Beats. This one deals with:
Clothes
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There are a million different ways to describe clothes, so this is but a tiny selection, with an emphasis on fantasy.
- He pushed the coat down and off of her shoulders and it fell down her arms, pooling at her feet.
- She admired the gossamer robes.
- She lifted the long cloak and held it high. “I used the pelts of rabbits, and sewed them to well-tanned and thin-beaten deer hide.”
- She strapped her short sword to her side, where it hung against her left hip. The knife he had given her sat in its sheath on her right hip.
- Tall leather boots graced her feet.
- She wrapped herself in a fleecy sheepskin worked with fine hand embroidery, spider-thin silken threads woven into ancient symbols no longer understood.
- She wore a pair of simple gathered-leather, over-the-knee boots.
- He wore a fitted charcoal-gray pinstripe that had the look of absurdly expensive bespoke.
- She peeled off her jacket, tossed it on a peg.
- His gaze caressed her painted-on red dress.
- She wore olive-green fatigues and a lightweight tank.
- She was draped in a burgundy wrap dress.
- She wore a light green gown with beading covering the bodice and trickling into the skirt.
- She wore a black Chanel suit that was all business and sexy heels that weren’t.
- He teased the gown above her head. All at once, a river of plum-colored silk rushed over her arms and down onto the floor,
- It was pure cashmere, but she dismissed it as just a good layering piece.
- She put on distressed jeans.
- He was wearing tight jeans that played up his broad shoulders and slim hips.
- She dressed with some care, donning a lilac-colored dress accented with white satin trim. She left her light brown hair loose but added a ribbon to keep the strands free from her face.
- Clothes can be mired or soiled (mired in dirt)
- He began dressing, stepping into his pants and then reaching for his shirt. Shrugging into it, he turned.
- She set him moving with a smack to the back of his jeans.
- A rip along the bottom of her bag called to mind some battlefield casualty, like a veteran’s scar.
- Sawgrass reached across the path and tugged angrily at the hem of her skirt.
- Her dress graced the floor with a pale blue splash like fallen sky. Discarded underpants conjured visions of puffy white clouds.
Next week: Doors. View all posts on the subject, or buy the book on Amazon – free on KU!
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As a textile person, I feel knowledgeable enough to comment about the clothing aspect of writing (but not the writing itself). I would just beg all your author followers to at least check a costume reference book if they are writing historical fiction. Styles changed radically over the years, and nothing stops me reading faster than wild inaccuracy. The worst example I have ever read had an outlaw in the 1800s escaping in women’s clothes, and then he “unzipped the dress and tossed it over his head.” Zippers weren’t used in clothing much until the 1930s. I try not to be a picky reader, but to me it’s the same as if that 1800s outlaw had been listening to the police report on the radio, or he escaped on a motorcycle — it’s just a huge anachronism.
So I’m begging! In historical fiction, please either research the clothing, or just leave it up to your reader’s imagination. 🙂
Lol – I’d happily co-sign that plea 🙂
Some good ones here!
Thank you, Traci 🙂
You’re welcome, Nicholas!
I purchased your book a month ago.
Just hours ago, I went through the final draft of my novel one last time before sending it off to a competition.
As I came across a handful of sentences that had no emotional beats, it felt amazing to have your book at my side as a reference to help ‘raise the bar’ on the read !
Thank you for the wonderful comment, Susan — you made my day 😀
(If you can now post it on Amazon as well… 😉 )
Best of luck with the competition 🙂
*1-click!* 😉
🙂
Some beautiful metaphors in there. Thanks for the inspiration. 🙂
Thank you so much, D. I’m sure you’ve recognized some of your own work in these posts 🙂
😀
” The underwear was very important. A padded bra, to make the best of her cleavage, and the pantie girdle with suspenders attached, to hold her in. Then the fine denier stockings, only the best. Stepping into the flouncy petticoat, she adjusted the folds so that they wouldn’t spoil the hang of her best red dress.”
-This is from one of my own stories. 🙂
Great tips as always, Nicholas!
Best wishes, Pete.
I wish I’d read that earlier, Pete — I’d have included it in my Beats 😀
It was published by an online magazine, and also in a print copy too!
https://www.longshotisland.com/2017/03/02/valerie/
You just forgot, I know… 🙂
Lol – Beats was published in September 2016. Never mind; it was nice revisiting Valerie. Thanks for the link 🙂
Thanks, Nicholas, for another of your helpful posts on emotional beats. 🙂 — Suzanne
Thank you so much, Suzanne! I’m thrilled you still find them useful 🙂