Write what you know.

[dameboudicca]

You know, that advise you get all the time. It has some truth to it (especially if not taken to literally).

But what do you do if you suffer from prosopagnosia (facial blindness), when you couldn't describe the face of someone you knew if your life depended on it even? If you are incapable of reading facial expressions (at least, if they are not really exaggerated). Does that mean you have to write stories about faceless beings who never shows the slightest hint of an expression on their faces? It would be all right if your character had the same condition, but if you don't want that...?

This is not just a question out of idle curiosity, I have these problems, and so far I have avoided it by using generic descriptions (put together from stuff I've read), but it feels a bit like cheating (no, no, not word-by-word, of course not - but still!) - and I'm terrified someone will, eventually, see through it. After all, I know it's fake!

Or, do I have no choice but to continue as I do now?

[somewhat cross-posted]

Comments

[azurelunatic]

Coming way late to the party, but supporting the definitely-use-body-language-you-know party. If the lack of it turns into an issue later, it's not that horribly much different than a field of science you don't know: you find an expert who's willing to assist, who can go through and say that this works, this doesn't, there should be something just here, and the like.

I go at expression of emotion from the "how does Character X display Emotion Y" angle, and it's only sometimes most prominently the face. Sometimes even when it's supposed to be the face, it's actually the position of the whole head: tilted, pointed towards the other party, chin lifted (and head tilted back), head bowed, turned away from someone.