@friendsfan367 That sounds cool. Would be a fun idea for chapter titles to make it like the show if you ever run out of chapter ideas : p ‘The One Where My Sim Glitches Out And Stands There For Two In-Game Days’ : p
@HermioneSims I’ll put my response in spoiler tags since my response is (and was) off the main topic (sorry!):
This is such an important point actually since I’ve read a lot of fantasy where the fantastical elements have zero consequence or limitations. Like people can just bang out any spell they want whenever they want and it just happens, no limits, no overexertion or running out of mana or anything. The limitations in my universe are similar to both the game and partially to DnD. Overcharge is a serious problem and repeated magic overexertion can lead to a fatal illness and other long term health conditions. Spells have a chance of failing if too overcharged, stronger versions of spells require physical components such as gems or plants that get used up by the spell’s power.
iwas actually just commenting on why i missed a few days, the friends part is the actual answer.
oh i forgot the funny part when brandon caught them he ran screaming from the room .which amused me cause he was a ya, so i guess even sims don't know how they got here, lol
I have a question for everyone: How do you choose your words? Alternatively, how would you describe your writing style?
I'm asking because I like words a lot, and I can feel my legacy falling off a bit. I generally try to use common words and phrases, and to keep my chapters short, but my chapters are becoming longer and my word choice less common. I think I'm still okay, but I'm curious to hear how other people approach the topic because everyone seems to have their own style.
I also don't have intense action as an element of my legacy. Instead, I have a slow character study so my words (and more often pretty pictures) must do a lot of work.
How do you choose your words? Alternatively, how would you describe your writing style?
Sometimes I learn a word that sounds interesting and/or cool, and I might adjust the chapter to use it (pretty sure in recent months I once changed an entire remainder of a chapter just to use the word 'poleaxed').
As for writing style, I guess sometimes I end up using a word so many times, I worry it may start getting repetitive. I also try to diversify adjectives to avoid it as well (my vocabulary is, shall we say, a bit uneven). I've also noticed I tend to use things like 'asked as' 'said before' and 'said while' a lot. (Any other words used in place of 'said' or 'asked' doesn't look right to me)
I've also been told that some of the things I write are well written, which I honestly am having a hard time believing (Those readers have probably been able to see something that I'm not aware I'm doing).
How do you choose your words? Alternatively, how would you describe your writing style?
Sometimes I learn a word that sounds interesting and/or cool, and I might adjust the chapter to use it (pretty sure in recent months I once changed an entire remainder of a chapter just to use the word 'poleaxed').
@rednenemon Haha. That seems violent. Thanks for answering. This is interesting. I find that I do the opposite. I'm not sure why, but perhaps I spent too many years where I desperately wanted my ideas to be communicated with absolute clarity (I wasn't writing fiction), and that's stuck so now I give myself an allowance of a couple to a few odd words per chapter.
As for writing style, I guess sometimes I end up using a word so many times, I worry it may start getting repetitive. I also try to diversify adjectives to avoid it as well (my vocabulary is, shall we say, a bit uneven). I've also noticed I tend to use things like 'asked as' 'said before' and 'said while' a lot. (Any other words used in place of 'said' or 'asked' doesn't look right to me)
I've also been told that some of the things I write are well written, which I honestly am having a hard time believing (Those readers have probably been able to see something that I'm not aware I'm doing).
Sometimes repetition is good, though. It can create catch phrases or a distinct style. Even though I can't be judging other people's writing, people generally say things for a reason and if a lot of people are telling you the same nice thing about your writing, just believe them. I think it's too much trouble for more than one person to lie about something like that.
How do you choose your words? Alternatively, how would you describe your writing style?
English isn’t my first language, so I don’t know as many complicated words as I would like. Every once in a while I’ll notice I’ve been using the same phrases or words for something a lot and it’ll start to bug me. Google synonyms is a real lifesaver there. Sometimes I feel like my writing can be more complex, or convey feelings better. But as it is now, it’s accessible to everyone who can read English. Minus the medieval swears, of course, but those are weird on purpose 😆
My writing style is less descriptive and more narrative, so I don’t run into that problem very often, luckily. Most of the storytelling is done by my pictures and the dialogue instead. I think I’d struggle much more if it was a full-blown novel instead of simlit. A picture speaks a thousands words, and all 🙂
Hosting D&D sessions on the side. Interested in playing through some fantasy-themed shenanigans? Send me a message 😘
How do you choose your words? Alternatively, how would you describe your writing style?
I have to answer a bit as @_sims_Yimi did, because English is not my first language either. Thus, when writing in English I often struggle at finding the best word with the exact same shade of meaning I have in mind, or the clearest way for word more complex concepts. I feel like a lot of details in what I'm trying to write are lost in translation, and that's a pity.
Talking about my first language instead (i.e. when I don't have as many hesitations as when I'm writing in English), I would say that I try to use a clear writing style, but I also avoid choosing over-used expressions. Generally speaking, I think that rarely two words have exactly the same meaning, or that they affect the general tone of the sentence in the same way, so I just look for the expression which fits a given scene the best.
This could also be related to my work, a good part of what I do consists in explaining very complex concepts in the clearest and more concise as possible, so I'm definitively used to avoid unnecessarily extravagant or obscure words in my writing.
Returning back to the first-second language part, I would also add that, evidently, my first language is affecting my English writing style a lot. The order of words in a sentence, their lenght, the favourite vocabulary... are all evidently affected by this (for example, to me it's more natural to use words such as "error" or "difficult" instead of "mistake" or "hard", because direct cognates exist in my first language. Also, words such as "extravagant" or "crepuscular" don't sound so uncommon to me).
On the other hand, all the time I'm spending writing in English both for fun and for work are starting to affect my Italian too. I mostly notice it with my punctuation, at this point it's completely messed up regardless of the language I'm writing in...
You can follow the Legacy Miller from my blog and the forum thread, *Chapter 8.18 posted on the 23th of April 2024*
Now onto @haneul's question: How do you choose your words? Alternatively, how would you describe your writing style?
I like to think I have something of an identifiable style, after a teenhood of carbon-copying other authors I think I've finally found a style I'm going to put this under spoiler tags for neatness:
General writing style and word choice:
Generally speaking, my style is as simple as it needs to be depending on what's being written about. First off, I think authors overthink their writing style being 'too simple' far too much. Sometimes it's good to go for something more complex wording-wise, but also remember that sometimes the succinct way is the best way. Of course, it's always good to learn new things and broaden your knowledge as much as you can on something, but a writer should never feel bad for not knowing enough 'complicated' words or anything of the sort.
I personally don't care too much about using the most beautiful word for something unless the situation demands it. For example, describing something amazing like a new place, a magnificent creature, something magical etc. would require more flowery language to accentuate how special or how 'exotic' it might appear to the person.
I do my best to try and make my writing unique somehow, mainly since trying to confront my carbon-copying of other authors in my teens like i mentioned earlier. If there's anything that's greatly benefitted my art and writing, it's stop trying to be someone else and just do your own thing. Sometimes it's hard, though, to try and write in a way that will make people pick up what makes your style yours.
Character and Dialogue:
One thing that interests me about SimLit is seeing the way all the writers around the world write dialogue, all peppered with their own dialects and slang terms. It's a nice bit of variety, and it's fun seeing others' experiences come across in their writing.
I usually write in first-person, so how I write almost entirely depends on the character that's speaking. Everything from their upbringing, to the dialect of the place where they come from, to their overall personality- it all dictates the way I write. A character's general outlook will change everything- different characters notice different things and this is often what diffrentiates them. Examples from my writing:
- Due to not having many friends and being used to rejection and a toxic family, Lilith Pleasant's POV is very focused on every little thing other people do or say. She has something to say or shares her thoughts about every little interaction, as if to protect herself or try to notice when her presence wasn't wanted by someone else. When she first meets the main character of the story she's in, she's constantly on the lookout for signs of rejection, and is oddly surprised when he has no issue with her. She even feels it necessary to give him a gift and overthinks that too, desperate to keep around this one bit of a good social interaction that she has.
- Immy is six years old. I looked into child language development (most of which I semi-remembered from GCSE English Language so many years ago), psychological development, and how other authors wrote child characters. Her outlook on the world is still mostly optimistic, she's generally quite excitable, and she often comments on things being cute or pretty or on other people's feelings as she navigates social interaction and learns new things. This is more a subconscious coping mechanism from dealing with an awful family environment. She will often ask both herself and others questions, trying to understand the wildness of the world around her. I notice as a reader and from further reading on the subject that many authors fall into either writing all children like adults, or people thinking that for lack of a better description 'kids are dumb', so I wanted to avoid both of those pitfalls.
- Morgyn was raised in a rich family, and such has more focus on manners and a generally more 'posh' way of talking. Much was expected of them due to their upbringing, which is why they retain that formality. They often speak in a much more flowery and flamboyant way than all the other characters do. They're quite 'over the top' compared to everyone else. They are slightly more informal in tone due to the company they are in later on in the stories they appear in.
- Although Leo also grew up in a rich family, he and his siblings have a more informal manner of speech (and his are peppered with all sorts of things you shouldn't say at the dinner table.) Leo cares little for manners or formality most of the time, partially as a rejection of all the ridiculousness of the expectations of someone from a magical bloodline family.
I don't often write accents into dialogue, since I sometimes find it jarring to read depending on how it's done, and also since it could potentially be taken as parodic by mistake- so I tend to rely moreso on the general sentence structure and slang associated with a dialect than the way the word is actually spoken. Then it's trying to make it sound natural, and not just 'include as many slang terms from X dialect as possible.'
Like @rednenemon I rarely use anything outside of 'asked', 'said' or 'yelled'. I don't know or care for what the technical term is, but the overuse of a lot of different dialogue-descriptive words is something I find offputting, since I instead try to outline the intent of what's being said through the words or mannerisms insead.
To answer my own question, I would say that my writing style is playful. I use a lot of punctuation and some odd phrases, but I try not to overindulge in silliness, wordiness, or anything else. I also try not to be too picky because that's not fun and if I'm too picky I won't write anything.
I like how everyone approached the question from different angles. Some people may be more on the side of thinking their writing is "too simple" whereas with others it's "too complex." Personally, I don't worry about being too simple. Being simple often means being clear/accessible and I think that's good.
Ironically, with individual words, even if the meaning of a word perfectly aligns with what I want to convey, sometimes I'll avoid it if I think it might be too obscure. But I don't have a strong sense of what's uncommon or too obscure even though I'm a native English speaker, so I just guess and try my best. For example, unless I'm doing some kind of red or blood theme, I won't use a word like sanguine. I'll use optimistic or hopeful instead. On the other hand, I notice that sometimes I'll be a little repetitive and use a lot of similar words together. In my mind, I think that if X doesn't make sense, Y and Z will make sense, and that's enough to make it okay to write X Y Z. I don't know if "carillon" is weird or not, but if I sandwich it between organ and piano or just put it with piano, everyone will get the idea.
With character/dialogue/POV, I write in third person. It's simple. It lets me come and go from my Sims' perspectives as I want. Writing in first person is too personal and too much work for me. I also generally try to avoid writing dialogue.
@SnowBnuuy I love how you explained your approach to dialogue.
How do you choose your words? Alternatively, how would you describe your writing style?
-Anything in the dictionary is fair game.
I'm very dialogue focussed and I like it to be zippy, fast paced and in tune with the characters and their personalities. Therefore the words I use are chosen to suit the characters. Edna Sneedley and Julia Epstein, being more formal and against anything vulgar, will use longer, more archaic language and words...Edna would say "foundation garment" instead of "bra", for example. Action would use more contemporary street slang, Travis Scott uses a lot of 1960s era slang like "groovy", "fab" or "far out". So much of my writing style is about finding the right "voice" for the character and once that's sorted, the vocabulary and speech patterns kind of fall into place.
I am thoroughly enjoying everyone's answers to this question. Here's mine...
How do you choose your words? Alternatively, how would you describe your writing style?
I'm fortunate to be writing in my first language, and I'm beyond impressed with those of you who write so well in a second (or third?) language. The only other language in which I can write is Latin, and I'm not about to include more than an occasional Latin phrase in anything I write. And, when I do, it's one that's commonly understood, like carpe diem. I think I used carpe noctem along with it once, but I'm guessing that if you know how to "seize the day," you can figure out how to "seize the night," too.
My Simlit style depends more heavily on words than pictures. I'm still developing the skill and patience to compose an effective screenshot, so I often find myself depending on my writing to tell my stories instead. I have to remind myself to write sentences of varied lengths. Otherwise, I write an endless string of sentences with two phrases, linked by commas. I have also largely broken my fascination with semicolons; when I discovered them as a kid, I employed them at a rate that annoyed a series of English teachers.
I enjoy writing dialogue. It's fun to develop unique voices for each of my characters, and even more fun to capture the essence of their relationships through their conversations. In doing so, I often rely on the relationships with which I'm most familiar. Cameron and his younger sister, Halle, interact much the way my younger sister and I did as teenagers. I hear my mom's voice in my head as I'm writing Courtenay's dialogue. Z has had fun writing dialogue for the children in my story, and I've had even more fun letting her. Zuzu Bailey is several years younger than Z is now, but I think Z did a fine job of capturing how a seven-year-old might speak.
If I write another story sometime, I'll be careful to create characters who draw from other inspirations.
I have also largely broken my fascination with semicolons; when I discovered them as a kid, I employed them at a rate that annoyed a series of English teachers.
I've been trying to figure out how to answer this question. Everyone else seems so self-aware of their own style and how they make word choices! I really am not sure for myself. But I'll try.
How do you choose your words? Alternatively, how would you describe your writing style?
My husband once described my style as "theatrical", but he had a hard time explaining what he meant by that. It does seem like a good term for it though. I tend to think about my stories as though they are a stage performance, rather than as a more realistic account of events.
One thing that I think very much affects my writing style, in general, is the fact that I actually can't visualize things in my head while I'm reading. Even when I'm not reading, I have a hard time visualizing things. Even if I close my eyes and try really hard to visualize something very familiar, most of the time the best I can get is a colorful blur. I know what it represents, but I can't see any detail.
When I read, I have a tendency to skip over visual descriptions if they are more than just a few words. I'd rather have the POV character's opinion or feelings about the way something looks (for example, "it's pretty" or "it scares me") than an actual rendering of the appearance in words, because I can't visualize it no matter how detailed the description is, and I get bored. The same goes for action scenes.
So my writing tends to be rather light on visual descriptions and action descriptions. I think this is also why my SimLit is so heavily focused on using a lot of screenshots rather than describing visual stuff and action in words. I don't like describing a scene, but I love building a detailed lot and taking pictures. I don't like writing action scenes, but I love creating custom action poses.
Interestingly, all my novels are written in third person, but all my SimLit stories are written in first person. That wasn't intentional, it's just how the stories came to me. I'm finding I like first person a lot, though, because "heavier on the opinions and emotions" and "lighter on visual descriptions" feels more natural in first person. Sort of like a diary or journal entry, or someone talking to a friend about what happened to them. It's a style I find I am drifting more and more towards because it works for me.
@GlacierSnow Your perspective is quite different from mine so I have to carefully consider it. Thanks for answering--it's a great response.
I've been trying to figure out how to answer this question. Everyone else seems so self-aware of their own style and how they make word choices! I really am not sure for myself. But I'll try.
But I'm not aware of how my choices are being received, which is critical. So even if I'm self-aware, it doesn't necessarily matter.
One thing that I think very much affects my writing style, in general, is the fact that I actually can't visualize things in my head while I'm reading. Even when I'm not reading, I have a hard time visualizing things. Even if I close my eyes and try really hard to visualize something very familiar, most of the time the best I can get is a colorful blur. I know what it represents, but I can't see any detail.
That's unique. My thoughts are often feelings based, but I am a visual thinker. Most of the time, I don't visualize things down to minute details (or what I think are minute details), but one way by which I daydream is to visualize places I've been before and walk through them again. I don't close my eyes or anything like that, I just think to recall images, feelings, and smells.
I don't like describing a scene, but I love building a detailed lot and taking pictures.
I've never thought of this before because I don't distinguish between these two things. To me, they're the same. Hmm… If I think about it, though, we're probably opposites. Ironically, outside of certain situations, the idea of setting up scenes in the game to fit a story is a nightmare scenario for me. I think the gap between what I visualize and what I can create in the game would be intolerable and I would rage quit straight to writing everything because the amount of time required to make poses/objects/etc. in Blender is enormous. Therefore, I let the game give me the story instead.
Interestingly, all my novels are written in third person, but all my SimLit stories are written in first person. That wasn't intentional, it's just how the stories came to me. I'm finding I like first person a lot, though, because "heavier on the opinions and emotions" and "lighter on visual descriptions" feels more natural in first person. Sort of like a diary or journal entry, or someone talking to a friend about what happened to them. It's a style I find I am drifting more and more towards because it works for me.
That's another great point. First person can be like writing a diary. I try to maintain some distance between my story and my Sims' thoughts. I'm gameplay oriented so I don't like to make all the decisions for them, especially not in the beginning, but if I were to write in first person I'd be in their heads saying how they feel about everything from day 1.
How do you choose your words? Alternatively, how would you describe your writing style?
The question is interesting even though it is very difficult to answer.
English is not my native language and my English language is not very developed. I am therefore very dependent on Google Translate to make myself understood.
I think that I can write an understandable text has more focus on me than focusing on whether I have a special style.
My passive English vocabulary is large enough for me to avoid the worst translation errors, although I'm sure many errors slip under the radar. I try to avoid repeating a word too many times.
The grammar is a big challenge. I have discovered we use a lot of conjunctions in the Danish written language, but they often look completely wrong in an English sentence. An example is the conjunction that.
A sentence like She wish she could would be literally translated from Danish translated as She wish that she could.
I make an effort to erase the superfluous conjunctions where I find them. Here, Google translate is no help and I get pretty exhausted if I spend too much time on analyze my translations grammatically, so I choose to close my eyes.
Should I finally think about what could be a writing style then it is I mainly build my story on images. I support these images with a fairly short text. This was also my style when I wrote in Danish.
I use my intuition more than knowledge when building a text for an image. I like picturesque words and I sometimes form my own words without regard to proper language use. Let me give you an example. A word like botanizing takes on a different meaning in the context of the action in an image.
Fun reading everyone's answers to these < 3 All my responses are under the cut.
Whilst all of my responses are on-topic to what you are all saying, they aren't wholly on-topic to what the original question is, so I apologise for the tangents.
@Kellogg_J_Kellogg - I did really like how all your characters had their own unique voice! Everyone had their own little signature touch to their manner of speech.
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@GlacierSnow- With what you said about visual descriptions, I think that's one reason I like SimLit as well since 90% of the visual description is in the screenshots. When it comes to third-person written stories, I'm never a fan of long introductory visual descriptions. I like it when bits of description are mentioned throughout the story, as opposed to all dumped in one go. In first-person stories, it depends on whether it makes sense for the character to be observant enough to notice every small detail. The reason you prefer writing in first-person is the same reason I prefer doing that too. My third-person writing style is so dull, whereas I can afford to be more informal and such with first-person. It's also more personal, almost like the character is talking to you specifically so it's easier to relate to or understand them.
It's interesting with what you said about not being able to visualise a scene. Oftentimes I roughly picture what's going on in my mind as if it were a show or movie, and then go from there. It helps with dialogue as well to do it that way, since I try to 'hear it' in my head I can then figure out if it sounds jarring or unnatural in some way.
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@haneul - What you're saying about word choices is really good. Of course associations are partially subjective, but I agree in that some descriptions, despite the meaning being the same, just doesn't fit. Like in your example- sanguine would make me think of darkness and blood, so to have it as just a fancy description of something in a non-dark scene wouldn't work for me. It sort of connects to what I was saying about me trying not to overuse exotic words, as to convey a certain mood or feeling. As for what you're saying about third person, that's a good point. It creates a distance from the characters and their actions and feelings, as well as an honest account of what's going on. In first-person, there's always going to be character bias and unreliable narrators. I do like how your stories don't have much dialogue actually, since I've realised my writing has always been very dialogue-heavy.
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@HermioneSims - It's cool to see how your work affects your writing. I can imagine having to write concisely and in a way that everyone will clearly understand can make things difficult. I can imagine it also makes describing things hard, since you're not as used to going into over-detail with things. In a (slightly) similar way in the sense of lifestyle affecting your writing style, the reason I always communicate in text-walls here is because I'm used to what I'm saying always being misread IRL and I'm very bad at talking to people, so I'm forever trying to clarify things as much as possible. That and I worry someone might mistake my shorthand as blunt or rude.
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@MonaSolstraale - Yeah, grammar differences I can imagine can be a difficult thing to remember. I remember back when I studied German, the grammar differences threw me off a lot and I'd often accidentally write with English grammar rules.
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@MoonlightGraham - Cool that you know Latin! I over-rely on Latin phrases or corrupted Latin phrases for names of spells in my magical works, but it's a language I associate with mystery, ancient secrets, the occult, that sort of thing so it works. Also it's just such a beautiful language.
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@_sims_Yimi I think this is why my chapters feel short when I'm writing SimLit, because I don't have to describe as much thanks to the images. Also probably why my stories seem dialogue-heavy.
I have also largely broken my fascination with semicolons; when I discovered them as a kid, I employed them at a rate that annoyed a series of English teachers.
@haneul and @SnowBnuuy It's so interesting hearing from people who visualize stuff more vividly. For the longest time, I thought that phrases like "picture in your mind" or "visualize a (whatever)" were just figures of speech or metaphors rather than something it was actually possible to do. At least while awake. Weirdly, I can have visually vivid dreams. But that seems to be the only time.
Then, after I wrote my first novel, my brother commented on how little visual description I had written, and how it made it hard for him to picture the characters, scenes and events, and I was like "uh... what?" As we went on talking about our personal experiences reading, he explained that he typically sees in his mind what the book is describing, as though he is "watching a movie", and I was stunned. It was like finding out someone you know has a super power or something. I started asking other people, and was surprised to find that apparently I'm the weird one.
I tend to think completely verbally for most things. And for things that are visual activities (such as art, building lots in the Sims, decorating a room etc.) I literally think by moving things around physically until I like what I see. I can't visualize it in my head in advance. I "think with my hands". I've loved building lots in the Sims right from the start, because the building system is super intuitive for the way I think.
When it comes to third-person written stories, I'm never a fan of long introductory visual descriptions. I like it when bits of description are mentioned throughout the story, as opposed to all dumped in one go. In first-person stories, it depends on whether it makes sense for the character to be observant enough to notice every small detail. The reason you prefer writing in first-person is the same reason I prefer doing that too. My third-person writing style is so dull, whereas I can afford to be more informal and such with first-person. It's also more personal, almost like the character is talking to you specifically so it's easier to relate to or understand them.
I think you explained it perfectly here. This is a huge reason why I am liking the combination of writing in first person plus lots of screen shots so much. The characters only mention what is important or noticeable to themselves. The pictures can show other details I want the audience to see that the characters don't notice, don't care about, or are actively ignoring.
One thing I also do (because this is my sense of humor) is I use the screenshots to actually contradict what the character is saying. For example a character's narrative might say "I got a lot of writing done on my report" but then the screenshot shows him just sitting there staring up at the ceiling with a completely blank page on his computer screen. The fact that, in his own narrative, the character is making himself out to be more impressive than he really is shows you something about his personality that he would not talk about himself.
@GlacierSnow Thanks again for sharing. It's always fun to hear how everyone is unique in their reading and visualization habits. My thinking/reading quirk is that I don't reread books outside of quotes and snippets here and there. I recently learned that many people reread books and rewatch movies to reexperience certain feelings. I don't think it works for me in the same way. For me, if rereading feels like anything, it's jarring and painful. If you've ever tried a speech jammer app (an app that makes it hard to speak and think because it delays your voice) that's closest to what rereading fiction is like for me. Awful.
I don't know why. I may just be a very visual thinker. Generally, when I think there's a faint almost subtitling of my thoughts in my head where I literally picture the words' physical forms, so perhaps the text is getting jammed with my memory of it. I'm not sure how it affects my writing.
I will response to other thoughts later, but for now @SnowBnuuy thank you for your detailed response. It's helpful. Please don't apologize for furthering the discussion.
@haneul Yeah I very rarely reread anything, I only ever did that as a kid. Even if it’s a really good book or SimLit etc, it isn’t quite the same for me a second time around. I’ve tried to reread some things in the past as a teenager, but upon the second try, it becomes apparent that it’s not as good as I remember. I think it’s partially because of how my changes taste so quickly, partially just the case of getting older and being more aware of various potential flaws in writing, and such.
Sometimes it’s not just that - I remember upon rereading a very old SimLit a few years ago (can’t remember which one) the reread was awful due to what I considered poorly/handled portrayals of various issues and aspects of life. I remember this wasn’t something I noticed at all upon the first reading, for some reason. Maybe I just didn’t notice or maybe it was a change in what I became aware of as I got older…
With me as a reader, I generally focus on character more than plot. I strugggle with structure, so I don’t often remember plots much which is why most of my comments are more focused on characters and relationships. If you asked me the plot of my favourite story or game etc. I probably couldn’t tell you in a way that makes sense because I’ve either forgotten the story or the order of events As a result though, I worry writers will think I’m not paying attention to their story, when it’s not that at all.
Yeah I very rarely reread anything, I only ever did that as a kid. Even if it’s a really good book or SimLit etc, it isn’t quite the same for me a second time around. I’ve tried to reread some things in the past as a teenager, but upon the second try, it becomes apparent that it’s not as good as I remember. I think it’s partially because of how my changes taste so quickly, partially just the case of getting older and being more aware of various potential flaws in writing, and such.
Sometimes it’s not just that - I remember upon rereading a very old SimLit a few years ago (can’t remember which one) the reread was awful due to what I considered poorly/handled portrayals of various issues and aspects of life. I remember this wasn’t something I noticed at all upon the first reading, for some reason. Maybe I just didn’t notice or maybe it was a change in what I became aware of as I got older…
Interesting. I don't really reread at all (as a child I was vehemently against it), so I've never had the experience of rereading something and having it not be as good as I remember. But my tastes have changed and I see some books through a different lens even though I've not revisited them. Still, it makes me seem suspicious to others when I declare something a favorite because I only read everything once (favorites included)...
As a reader, I don't focus on anything. I like to look at almost everything (plot, characterization, language, pacing, all kinds of random irrelevant stuff...), but it is different when I read in a language that's not English. Then, I focus on plot and who is who because it takes a lot of effort for me to understand the basics and I don't have the bandwidth to notice anything else. Hopefully, this year, I can improve a bit there, but it's not a 1-year project, it's a lifelong struggle.
Anyway, people generally are going to focus on different things, which is fine. If people misunderstand or don't notice something I've written, I just think, "Oops, I didn't write that clearly" and move on. If readers actually aren't paying attention, I also think that's on me because I know I can be boring.
Returning to the discussion on word choice, because I don't write in first person and because I don't use a lot of dialogue, I feel like I can't open myself up to using anything in the dictionary as there's no character POV creating restraints. Honestly, it becomes a game of how many times can you send someone to the dictionary before they stop reading? I'll continue being slightly cautious about what words I use.
My thinking/reading quirk is that I don't reread books outside of quotes and snippets here and there. I recently learned that many people reread books and rewatch movies to reexperience certain feelings. I don't think it works for me in the same way. For me, if rereading feels like anything, it's jarring and painful. If you've ever tried a speech jammer app (an app that makes it hard to speak and think because it delays your voice) that's closest to what rereading fiction is like for me. Awful.
That is really interesting! I wonder why that happens...? I can certainly see why you would not want to reread stuff like that. That sounds awful.
For me, I often enjoy the second or third time through a book or movie more than the first time, because I notice things I didn't realize the first time through. In fact I write my stories (especially my SimLit) with re-readers in mind. There are many in-the-background details in the screenshots that won't mean anything to the reader the first time, but after they know what happens in the story if they go back and re-read they'll realize the significance. The story is meant to be perfectly understandable without doing that, it's just an added level of detail for those that like to re-read.
With movies, it is almost essential that I re-watch them. I have a hard time identifying people by their faces so I often get characters mixed up or think that one character is two different characters because they changed their clothes or hairstyle part way through. So parts of the plot don't make sense to me. When I watch a second or third time, though, I can usually figure out "Oh that's the same guy as in the beginning of the movie!" or whatever, and it makes soooooo much more sense!
In fact I write my stories (especially my SimLit) with re-readers in mind. There are many in-the-background details in the screenshots that won't mean anything to the reader the first time, but after they know what happens in the story if they go back and re-read they'll realize the significance. The story is meant to be perfectly understandable without doing that, it's just an added level of detail for those that like to re-read.
@GlacierSnow I love discovering important details when I read, so I don't want your efforts or anyone else's to feel wasted on me. I just replay what I read in my mind and if I'm unsure I will check. I replay it in mental images of the words I read if I'm thinking about word choice or movie-like images of the action if I'm thinking about plot or both if the detail is relevant to both. I'm also fine with rereading a sentence or paragraph or looking at an actual picture to confirm my suspicions - it's just that rereading something like two complete chapters in order or the entire story is too much for me. The only time I may have a significant trouble/issue with foreshadowing is when stories aren't in English, but that's because I don't absorb that information as well given that there's often a lot of at least slightly unfamiliar stuff going on that I have to think about.
I love discovering important details when I read, so I don't want your efforts or anyone else's to feel wasted on me.
@haneul Don't worry! I wasn't thinking that at all. I'm just really fascinated by how different people's minds work. So this type of conversation gets me all excited and geeking out about mental experiences that are different from mine, and wanting to share what my experiences are. Didn't mean to come across as judgmental if I did at all.
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iwas actually just commenting on why i missed a few days, the friends part is the actual answer.
How do you choose your words? Alternatively, how would you describe your writing style?
I'm asking because I like words a lot, and I can feel my legacy falling off a bit. I generally try to use common words and phrases, and to keep my chapters short, but my chapters are becoming longer and my word choice less common. I think I'm still okay, but I'm curious to hear how other people approach the topic because everyone seems to have their own style.
I also don't have intense action as an element of my legacy. Instead, I have a slow character study so my words (and more often pretty pictures) must do a lot of work.
Sometimes I learn a word that sounds interesting and/or cool, and I might adjust the chapter to use it (pretty sure in recent months I once changed an entire remainder of a chapter just to use the word 'poleaxed').
As for writing style, I guess sometimes I end up using a word so many times, I worry it may start getting repetitive. I also try to diversify adjectives to avoid it as well (my vocabulary is, shall we say, a bit uneven). I've also noticed I tend to use things like 'asked as' 'said before' and 'said while' a lot. (Any other words used in place of 'said' or 'asked' doesn't look right to me)
I've also been told that some of the things I write are well written, which I honestly am having a hard time believing (Those readers have probably been able to see something that I'm not aware I'm doing).
Part One(Complete 9/24/16) /Part Two(on hold)/Short Stories(on hold)/Twinbrook 1996(on hold)/Ten Crystal Hearts (on hold)
I own the TS3 Store as of 12/11/16 (sort of. It's complicated)
Sometimes repetition is good, though. It can create catch phrases or a distinct style. Even though I can't be judging other people's writing, people generally say things for a reason and if a lot of people are telling you the same nice thing about your writing, just believe them. I think it's too much trouble for more than one person to lie about something like that.
English isn’t my first language, so I don’t know as many complicated words as I would like. Every once in a while I’ll notice I’ve been using the same phrases or words for something a lot and it’ll start to bug me. Google synonyms is a real lifesaver there. Sometimes I feel like my writing can be more complex, or convey feelings better. But as it is now, it’s accessible to everyone who can read English. Minus the medieval swears, of course, but those are weird on purpose 😆
My writing style is less descriptive and more narrative, so I don’t run into that problem very often, luckily. Most of the storytelling is done by my pictures and the dialogue instead. I think I’d struggle much more if it was a full-blown novel instead of simlit. A picture speaks a thousands words, and all 🙂
I have to answer a bit as @_sims_Yimi did, because English is not my first language either. Thus, when writing in English I often struggle at finding the best word with the exact same shade of meaning I have in mind, or the clearest way for word more complex concepts. I feel like a lot of details in what I'm trying to write are lost in translation, and that's a pity.
Talking about my first language instead (i.e. when I don't have as many hesitations as when I'm writing in English), I would say that I try to use a clear writing style, but I also avoid choosing over-used expressions. Generally speaking, I think that rarely two words have exactly the same meaning, or that they affect the general tone of the sentence in the same way, so I just look for the expression which fits a given scene the best.
This could also be related to my work, a good part of what I do consists in explaining very complex concepts in the clearest and more concise as possible, so I'm definitively used to avoid unnecessarily extravagant or obscure words in my writing.
Returning back to the first-second language part, I would also add that, evidently, my first language is affecting my English writing style a lot. The order of words in a sentence, their lenght, the favourite vocabulary... are all evidently affected by this (for example, to me it's more natural to use words such as "error" or "difficult" instead of "mistake" or "hard", because direct cognates exist in my first language. Also, words such as "extravagant" or "crepuscular" don't sound so uncommon to me).
On the other hand, all the time I'm spending writing in English both for fun and for work are starting to affect my Italian too. I mostly notice it with my punctuation, at this point it's completely messed up regardless of the language I'm writing in...
I like to think I have something of an identifiable style, after a teenhood of carbon-copying other authors I think I've finally found a style
General writing style and word choice:
I personally don't care too much about using the most beautiful word for something unless the situation demands it. For example, describing something amazing like a new place, a magnificent creature, something magical etc. would require more flowery language to accentuate how special or how 'exotic' it might appear to the person.
I do my best to try and make my writing unique somehow, mainly since trying to confront my carbon-copying of other authors in my teens like i mentioned earlier. If there's anything that's greatly benefitted my art and writing, it's stop trying to be someone else and just do your own thing. Sometimes it's hard, though, to try and write in a way that will make people pick up what makes your style yours.
Character and Dialogue:
I usually write in first-person, so how I write almost entirely depends on the character that's speaking. Everything from their upbringing, to the dialect of the place where they come from, to their overall personality- it all dictates the way I write. A character's general outlook will change everything- different characters notice different things and this is often what diffrentiates them. Examples from my writing:
- Due to not having many friends and being used to rejection and a toxic family, Lilith Pleasant's POV is very focused on every little thing other people do or say. She has something to say or shares her thoughts about every little interaction, as if to protect herself or try to notice when her presence wasn't wanted by someone else. When she first meets the main character of the story she's in, she's constantly on the lookout for signs of rejection, and is oddly surprised when he has no issue with her. She even feels it necessary to give him a gift and overthinks that too, desperate to keep around this one bit of a good social interaction that she has.
- Immy is six years old. I looked into child language development (most of which I semi-remembered from GCSE English Language so many years ago), psychological development, and how other authors wrote child characters. Her outlook on the world is still mostly optimistic, she's generally quite excitable, and she often comments on things being cute or pretty or on other people's feelings as she navigates social interaction and learns new things. This is more a subconscious coping mechanism from dealing with an awful family environment. She will often ask both herself and others questions, trying to understand the wildness of the world around her. I notice as a reader and from further reading on the subject that many authors fall into either writing all children like adults, or people thinking that for lack of a better description 'kids are dumb', so I wanted to avoid both of those pitfalls.
- Morgyn was raised in a rich family, and such has more focus on manners and a generally more 'posh' way of talking. Much was expected of them due to their upbringing, which is why they retain that formality. They often speak in a much more flowery and flamboyant way than all the other characters do. They're quite 'over the top' compared to everyone else. They are slightly more informal in tone due to the company they are in later on in the stories they appear in.
- Although Leo also grew up in a rich family, he and his siblings have a more informal manner of speech (and his are peppered with all sorts of things you shouldn't say at the dinner table.) Leo cares little for manners or formality most of the time, partially as a rejection of all the ridiculousness of the expectations of someone from a magical bloodline family.
I don't often write accents into dialogue, since I sometimes find it jarring to read depending on how it's done, and also since it could potentially be taken as parodic by mistake- so I tend to rely moreso on the general sentence structure and slang associated with a dialect than the way the word is actually spoken. Then it's trying to make it sound natural, and not just 'include as many slang terms from X dialect as possible.'
Like @rednenemon I rarely use anything outside of 'asked', 'said' or 'yelled'. I don't know or care for what the technical term is, but the overuse of a lot of different dialogue-descriptive words is something I find offputting, since I instead try to outline the intent of what's being said through the words or mannerisms insead.
To answer my own question, I would say that my writing style is playful. I use a lot of punctuation and some odd phrases, but I try not to overindulge in silliness, wordiness, or anything else. I also try not to be too picky because that's not fun and if I'm too picky I won't write anything.
I like how everyone approached the question from different angles. Some people may be more on the side of thinking their writing is "too simple" whereas with others it's "too complex." Personally, I don't worry about being too simple. Being simple often means being clear/accessible and I think that's good.
Ironically, with individual words, even if the meaning of a word perfectly aligns with what I want to convey, sometimes I'll avoid it if I think it might be too obscure. But I don't have a strong sense of what's uncommon or too obscure even though I'm a native English speaker, so I just guess and try my best. For example, unless I'm doing some kind of red or blood theme, I won't use a word like sanguine. I'll use optimistic or hopeful instead. On the other hand, I notice that sometimes I'll be a little repetitive and use a lot of similar words together. In my mind, I think that if X doesn't make sense, Y and Z will make sense, and that's enough to make it okay to write X Y Z. I don't know if "carillon" is weird or not, but if I sandwich it between organ and piano or just put it with piano, everyone will get the idea.
With character/dialogue/POV, I write in third person. It's simple. It lets me come and go from my Sims' perspectives as I want. Writing in first person is too personal and too much work for me. I also generally try to avoid writing dialogue.
@SnowBnuuy I love how you explained your approach to dialogue.
-Anything in the dictionary is fair game.
I'm very dialogue focussed and I like it to be zippy, fast paced and in tune with the characters and their personalities. Therefore the words I use are chosen to suit the characters. Edna Sneedley and Julia Epstein, being more formal and against anything vulgar, will use longer, more archaic language and words...Edna would say "foundation garment" instead of "bra", for example. Action would use more contemporary street slang, Travis Scott uses a lot of 1960s era slang like "groovy", "fab" or "far out". So much of my writing style is about finding the right "voice" for the character and once that's sorted, the vocabulary and speech patterns kind of fall into place.
Read Sim 66 here:https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/978195/sim-66/p1
https://kelloggjkellogg.blogspot.com/2020/10/sim-66-prologue.html
How do you choose your words? Alternatively, how would you describe your writing style?
I'm fortunate to be writing in my first language, and I'm beyond impressed with those of you who write so well in a second (or third?) language. The only other language in which I can write is Latin, and I'm not about to include more than an occasional Latin phrase in anything I write. And, when I do, it's one that's commonly understood, like carpe diem. I think I used carpe noctem along with it once, but I'm guessing that if you know how to "seize the day," you can figure out how to "seize the night," too.
My Simlit style depends more heavily on words than pictures. I'm still developing the skill and patience to compose an effective screenshot, so I often find myself depending on my writing to tell my stories instead. I have to remind myself to write sentences of varied lengths. Otherwise, I write an endless string of sentences with two phrases, linked by commas. I have also largely broken my fascination with semicolons; when I discovered them as a kid, I employed them at a rate that annoyed a series of English teachers.
I enjoy writing dialogue. It's fun to develop unique voices for each of my characters, and even more fun to capture the essence of their relationships through their conversations. In doing so, I often rely on the relationships with which I'm most familiar. Cameron and his younger sister, Halle, interact much the way my younger sister and I did as teenagers. I hear my mom's voice in my head as I'm writing Courtenay's dialogue. Z has had fun writing dialogue for the children in my story, and I've had even more fun letting her. Zuzu Bailey is several years younger than Z is now, but I think Z did a fine job of capturing how a seven-year-old might speak.
If I write another story sometime, I'll be careful to create characters who draw from other inspirations.
Exie hay, cavero, mabza meeah vendarzo.
Yevsas mairzeemo!
I see what you did there.
Read Sim 66 here:https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/978195/sim-66/p1
https://kelloggjkellogg.blogspot.com/2020/10/sim-66-prologue.html
How do you choose your words? Alternatively, how would you describe your writing style?
My husband once described my style as "theatrical", but he had a hard time explaining what he meant by that. It does seem like a good term for it though. I tend to think about my stories as though they are a stage performance, rather than as a more realistic account of events.
One thing that I think very much affects my writing style, in general, is the fact that I actually can't visualize things in my head while I'm reading. Even when I'm not reading, I have a hard time visualizing things. Even if I close my eyes and try really hard to visualize something very familiar, most of the time the best I can get is a colorful blur. I know what it represents, but I can't see any detail.
When I read, I have a tendency to skip over visual descriptions if they are more than just a few words. I'd rather have the POV character's opinion or feelings about the way something looks (for example, "it's pretty" or "it scares me") than an actual rendering of the appearance in words, because I can't visualize it no matter how detailed the description is, and I get bored. The same goes for action scenes.
So my writing tends to be rather light on visual descriptions and action descriptions. I think this is also why my SimLit is so heavily focused on using a lot of screenshots rather than describing visual stuff and action in words. I don't like describing a scene, but I love building a detailed lot and taking pictures. I don't like writing action scenes, but I love creating custom action poses.
Interestingly, all my novels are written in third person, but all my SimLit stories are written in first person. That wasn't intentional, it's just how the stories came to me. I'm finding I like first person a lot, though, because "heavier on the opinions and emotions" and "lighter on visual descriptions" feels more natural in first person. Sort of like a diary or journal entry, or someone talking to a friend about what happened to them. It's a style I find I am drifting more and more towards because it works for me.
But I'm not aware of how my choices are being received, which is critical.
That's unique. My thoughts are often feelings based, but I am a visual thinker. Most of the time, I don't visualize things down to minute details (or what I think are minute details), but one way by which I daydream is to visualize places I've been before and walk through them again. I don't close my eyes or anything like that, I just think to recall images, feelings, and smells.
I've never thought of this before because I don't distinguish between these two things. To me, they're the same. Hmm… If I think about it, though, we're probably opposites. Ironically, outside of certain situations, the idea of setting up scenes in the game to fit a story is a nightmare scenario for me. I think the gap between what I visualize and what I can create in the game would be intolerable and I would rage quit straight to writing everything because the amount of time required to make poses/objects/etc. in Blender is enormous. Therefore, I let the game give me the story instead.
That's another great point. First person can be like writing a diary. I try to maintain some distance between my story and my Sims' thoughts. I'm gameplay oriented so I don't like to make all the decisions for them, especially not in the beginning, but if I were to write in first person I'd be in their heads saying how they feel about everything from day 1.
English is not my native language and my English language is not very developed. I am therefore very dependent on Google Translate to make myself understood.
I think that I can write an understandable text has more focus on me than focusing on whether I have a special style.
My passive English vocabulary is large enough for me to avoid the worst translation errors, although I'm sure many errors slip under the radar. I try to avoid repeating a word too many times.
The grammar is a big challenge. I have discovered we use a lot of conjunctions in the Danish written language, but they often look completely wrong in an English sentence. An example is the conjunction that.
A sentence like She wish she could would be literally translated from Danish translated as She wish that she could.
I make an effort to erase the superfluous conjunctions where I find them. Here, Google translate is no help and I get pretty exhausted if I spend too much time on analyze my translations grammatically, so I choose to close my eyes.
Should I finally think about what could be a writing style then it is I mainly build my story on images. I support these images with a fairly short text. This was also my style when I wrote in Danish.
I use my intuition more than knowledge when building a text for an image. I like picturesque words and I sometimes form my own words without regard to proper language use. Let me give you an example. A word like botanizing takes on a different meaning in the context of the action in an image.
Let's botanize
Whilst all of my responses are on-topic to what you are all saying, they aren't wholly on-topic to what the original question is, so I apologise for the tangents.
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@GlacierSnow- With what you said about visual descriptions, I think that's one reason I like SimLit as well since 90% of the visual description is in the screenshots. When it comes to third-person written stories, I'm never a fan of long introductory visual descriptions. I like it when bits of description are mentioned throughout the story, as opposed to all dumped in one go. In first-person stories, it depends on whether it makes sense for the character to be observant enough to notice every small detail. The reason you prefer writing in first-person is the same reason I prefer doing that too. My third-person writing style is so dull, whereas I can afford to be more informal and such with first-person. It's also more personal, almost like the character is talking to you specifically so it's easier to relate to or understand them.
It's interesting with what you said about not being able to visualise a scene. Oftentimes I roughly picture what's going on in my mind as if it were a show or movie, and then go from there. It helps with dialogue as well to do it that way, since I try to 'hear it' in my head I can then figure out if it sounds jarring or unnatural in some way.
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@haneul - What you're saying about word choices is really good. Of course associations are partially subjective, but I agree in that some descriptions, despite the meaning being the same, just doesn't fit. Like in your example- sanguine would make me think of darkness and blood, so to have it as just a fancy description of something in a non-dark scene wouldn't work for me. It sort of connects to what I was saying about me trying not to overuse exotic words, as to convey a certain mood or feeling. As for what you're saying about third person, that's a good point. It creates a distance from the characters and their actions and feelings, as well as an honest account of what's going on. In first-person, there's always going to be character bias and unreliable narrators. I do like how your stories don't have much dialogue actually, since I've realised my writing has always been very dialogue-heavy.
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@HermioneSims - It's cool to see how your work affects your writing. I can imagine having to write concisely and in a way that everyone will clearly understand can make things difficult. I can imagine it also makes describing things hard, since you're not as used to going into over-detail with things. In a (slightly) similar way in the sense of lifestyle affecting your writing style, the reason I always communicate in text-walls here is because I'm used to what I'm saying always being misread IRL and I'm very bad at talking to people, so I'm forever trying to clarify things as much as possible. That and I worry someone might mistake my shorthand as blunt or rude.
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@MonaSolstraale - Yeah, grammar differences I can imagine can be a difficult thing to remember. I remember back when I studied German, the grammar differences threw me off a lot and I'd often accidentally write with English grammar rules.
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@MoonlightGraham - Cool that you know Latin! I over-rely on Latin phrases or corrupted Latin phrases for names of spells in my magical works, but it's a language I associate with mystery, ancient secrets, the occult, that sort of thing so it works. Also it's just such a beautiful language.
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@_sims_Yimi I think this is why my chapters feel short when I'm writing SimLit, because I don't have to describe as much thanks to the images. Also probably why my stories seem dialogue-heavy.
I hoped someone would.
Exie hay, cavero, mabza meeah vendarzo.
Yevsas mairzeemo!
Then, after I wrote my first novel, my brother commented on how little visual description I had written, and how it made it hard for him to picture the characters, scenes and events, and I was like "uh... what?"
I tend to think completely verbally for most things. And for things that are visual activities (such as art, building lots in the Sims, decorating a room etc.) I literally think by moving things around physically until I like what I see. I can't visualize it in my head in advance. I "think with my hands". I've loved building lots in the Sims right from the start, because the building system is super intuitive for the way I think.
I think you explained it perfectly here. This is a huge reason why I am liking the combination of writing in first person plus lots of screen shots so much. The characters only mention what is important or noticeable to themselves. The pictures can show other details I want the audience to see that the characters don't notice, don't care about, or are actively ignoring.
One thing I also do (because this is my sense of humor) is I use the screenshots to actually contradict what the character is saying. For example a character's narrative might say "I got a lot of writing done on my report" but then the screenshot shows him just sitting there staring up at the ceiling with a completely blank page on his computer screen. The fact that, in his own narrative, the character is making himself out to be more impressive than he really is shows you something about his personality that he would not talk about himself.
I don't know why. I may just be a very visual thinker. Generally, when I think there's a faint almost subtitling of my thoughts in my head where I literally picture the words' physical forms, so perhaps the text is getting jammed with my memory of it. I'm not sure how it affects my writing.
I will response to other thoughts later, but for now @SnowBnuuy thank you for your detailed response. It's helpful. Please don't apologize for furthering the discussion.
Sometimes it’s not just that - I remember upon rereading a very old SimLit a few years ago (can’t remember which one) the reread was awful due to what I considered poorly/handled portrayals of various issues and aspects of life. I remember this wasn’t something I noticed at all upon the first reading, for some reason. Maybe I just didn’t notice or maybe it was a change in what I became aware of as I got older…
With me as a reader, I generally focus on character more than plot. I strugggle with structure, so I don’t often remember plots much which is why most of my comments are more focused on characters and relationships. If you asked me the plot of my favourite story or game etc. I probably couldn’t tell you in a way that makes sense because I’ve either forgotten the story or the order of events
As a reader, I don't focus on anything. I like to look at almost everything (plot, characterization, language, pacing, all kinds of random irrelevant stuff...), but it is different when I read in a language that's not English. Then, I focus on plot and who is who because it takes a lot of effort for me to understand the basics and I don't have the bandwidth to notice anything else. Hopefully, this year, I can improve a bit there, but it's not a 1-year project, it's a lifelong struggle.
Anyway, people generally are going to focus on different things, which is fine. If people misunderstand or don't notice something I've written, I just think, "Oops, I didn't write that clearly" and move on. If readers actually aren't paying attention, I also think that's on me because I know I can be boring.
Returning to the discussion on word choice, because I don't write in first person and because I don't use a lot of dialogue, I feel like I can't open myself up to using anything in the dictionary as there's no character POV creating restraints. Honestly, it becomes a game of how many times can you send someone to the dictionary before they stop reading?
That is really interesting! I wonder why that happens...? I can certainly see why you would not want to reread stuff like that. That sounds awful.
For me, I often enjoy the second or third time through a book or movie more than the first time, because I notice things I didn't realize the first time through. In fact I write my stories (especially my SimLit) with re-readers in mind. There are many in-the-background details in the screenshots that won't mean anything to the reader the first time, but after they know what happens in the story if they go back and re-read they'll realize the significance. The story is meant to be perfectly understandable without doing that, it's just an added level of detail for those that like to re-read.
With movies, it is almost essential that I re-watch them. I have a hard time identifying people by their faces so I often get characters mixed up or think that one character is two different characters because they changed their clothes or hairstyle part way through. So parts of the plot don't make sense to me. When I watch a second or third time, though, I can usually figure out "Oh that's the same guy as in the beginning of the movie!" or whatever, and it makes soooooo much more sense!
@GlacierSnow I love discovering important details when I read, so I don't want your efforts or anyone else's to feel wasted on me. I just replay what I read in my mind and if I'm unsure I will check. I replay it in mental images of the words I read if I'm thinking about word choice or movie-like images of the action if I'm thinking about plot or both if the detail is relevant to both. I'm also fine with rereading a sentence or paragraph or looking at an actual picture to confirm my suspicions - it's just that rereading something like two complete chapters in order or the entire story is too much for me. The only time I may have a significant trouble/issue with foreshadowing is when stories aren't in English, but that's because I don't absorb that information as well given that there's often a lot of at least slightly unfamiliar stuff going on that I have to think about.
@haneul Don't worry! I wasn't thinking that at all.