no_takebacks | A word is worth a thousand pictures... (Reply)

Good morning, everyone! Today, I’d like to talk for a second about one of the things I find most challenging about writing: coming up with interesting descriptions. I’m not at all a copious writer, but even in my short stories, I’ve discovered that characters can always have different conversations, but they will essentially always look the same and they will have a limited repertoire of gestures and expressions. Finding new ways to describe them, both physically and emotionally, is a challenge, but it can also feel really rewarding to write something and think – ‘that’s really captured this person. I *saw* them in that line.’ So I would like to invite you all to think about your favorite striking little descriptions of Kara and Lee in fanfic, or meta, or in dialogue from the show itself. Share with us the lines that made you think – ‘That’s it. That sums up something about this person and/or this relationship concisely and beautifully.’ And if you are a writer yourself, could you choose one of your favorite descriptive lines, one that you’re proud to have written?

Here are just a few of the ones that have stuck with me:

Gesture that sums up Kara/Lee, from mercurial_wit’s “Amateur”:

“Briefing in five, Kara.” As Lee walks past his hand rests on her shoulder, just for a moment, and Anders doesn’t think she even realises that her own hand comes up in a silent tactile response, brushing the place where his fingers lay.

Character sketch that sums up Kara/Lee, from mercurial_wit’s “Our Pataphysical Divigation”:

“We’re fine, aren’t we?” he whispers, and relief falls over her face like a gush of water. All of a sudden it’s his best friend sitting there, not just Starbuck and not just the stripped-wire emotional tangle that is Kara Thrace. His roles are too big for him, but she could drown herself in hers, and he’s not going to let that happen.

Self-description that sums up something important about Lee, from settler’s “Polish the Stars”:

"I'm going to try not to be an ass. And when I fail and am anyway, I'm going to feel really, really bad."

Movements that tell a larger story, from CatsonMars’ “Aerilon Girls Are Easy”:

Once when the three of them went to a concert together, Kara was almost too exhausted to stay on her feet as they were slowly making their way out with the rest of the congested crowd after the show. At one point she sighed heavily and started to lean back against Lee without realizing it was him and not Zak standing directly behind her. He held her waist to steady her but then instantly drew his hands back away and said softly, "Teller," sounding just slightly uncomfortable, so that she blinked and stood up straight again. It's me.

Careful.