When characters engage with the details...

Interacting with Mars

 The other day a faculty member who teaches college science courses shared with me an innovative method he uses to enhance critical and creative thinking in his students.

Instead of having his students complete more traditional reports on scientific principles and concepts, he has them create science fiction stories, drawing on those same scientific ideas. (Boy would I have loved science if my professors had asked me to do that!).

As we talked, we discussed the necessity of not just asking students to sprinkle scientific details through their stories, but rather the importance of having their characters engage with those details. This would add to the scientific authenticity. More importantly, I think they contribute to the overall richness of the story.

So, for example, a writer could  just passively describe Mars:

"The floor of the Gale Crater was grayish-blue in color. Brown and gray pebbles were strewn everywhere.  At the center of the crater was Mount Sharp. Without any sign of life, Larry thought it was definitely the perfect place to land the Motherland's craft."

Or, the characters could actively engage with the Martian terrain--as they would engage with another character: 

"As Larry stepped cautiously down from his craft,  his boot sunk a little deeper down into Gale Crater than he had expected. What he had thought would be thickly-layered bedrock was actually more sponge-like in its composition. This was not the first time the Motherland's Minister of Science had been wrong about a planet. He kicked one of the many brown pebbles strewn across the landscape. "It's going to take me forever to get to Mount Sharp," he muttered to himself.  "Why'd the General tell me to land here? The mountain's  at least three kilometers to the north." Shivering, he checked the temperature gauge on his suit. 66 degrees. "Geez,  it's dropped at least 10 degrees since I landed."  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the pebbles move. "Uh, oh." He groaned. "That's no pebble!"

Okay, there's a reason I don't write science fiction. 

But when I was first embarking on my novel-writing journey, I learned about the concept of treating description, scenery, weather, etc as another character.  Details should be added to enhance the experience of a character.  In A Murder at Rosamund's Gate, for example,  I turned the ever-present London fog into a character--alternatively gentle and tempestuous in turns.

Of course, this is a matter of taste. There are plenty of great books out there--especially some of my favorite nineteenth century novels--that have PAGES and PAGES of description without a bit of dialogue or action to break them up.   But I admit, I probably skim long passages of description for the most part. 

How about you?  Do you enjoy books with lots of scenic descriptions? Or do you prefer when characters engage with the scenery, as they would engage with another character?

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