Do you have a problem with describing, explaining or narrating certain scenes?

Well, this chapter may come in handy for you, then!

// CONTENTS PAGE:
1.1 Determining the Focus of Your Story
1.2 Point-of-views and Perspectives
1.3 Describing Expressions and Actions
1.4 Describing Scenery

// 1.1 DETERMINING THE FOCUS OF YOUR STORY:
As weird as it sounds, determining the focus of your story is significant for you to determine how you should narrate it. Often at times, this has something to do with the general mood of the story.

Comedy/crack: Usually, heavy narration is not required for comedy and crack stories, but your narration should carry a tone of light-heartedness. It should also describe certain imagery in a hilarious manner. (More on humour in another chapter).

Angst & romance: Heavy narration is not mandatory, but during narration, detailing into the characters' expressions and actions is a plus. You can also use the differentiation of colours to bring about an effect (e.g. the narrator is sad, so in the narrator's eyes, the world is dark). More on this later.

Mystery: Doesn't warrant much narration although it is plot-centric.

Slice-of-life: Generally little narration of the scenes.

Fantasy/supernatural/alternate universe & sci-fi: Narration is mandatory since the viewers are being exposed to a new world. There must also be sufficient background information regarding the setting so that readers will not be confused.

Action & horror: Detailing of the actions of the characters (for action) and the gruesome aspects (for horror) will greatly enhance the impact of the stories.

// 1.2 POINTS-OF-VIEW AND PERSPECTIVES:
This may be a question that many authors may have in mind. What POV should you use in a story? Well, each POV has its own uses. Here are some brief descriptions.

1st POV - Pronoun: 'I', 'me'. The 1st POV is centered around the main character and exposes much of the MC's thoughts and feelings to the reader. Many of the things are seen via the MC's perspective. Consider utilising this POV if your story is very emotion-centric (especially when it revolves around the MC).

2nd POV - Pronoun: 'You'. The 2nd POV directly talks to the reader himself/herself. Honestly, I don't recommend this POV at all (it's usually used for non-fiction anyway), mainly because not all readers can relate to the main character fully. However, I think it'll be good if this can be used appropriately, but using this requires a high level of writing skill as you have to ensure that this actually causes a real impact to your story.

3rd POV - Pronoun: 'They', 'he'. The 3rd POV is more informative in the sense that the narrator can feed lots of background information to the reader. Also, it's not very impersonal so the readers don't get to see the main character's thoughts all the time. However, it can be omnipotent, in the sense that readers can get a glimpse of other characters as well. This is highly effective if you want to focus on other characters or if your story is heavy on background information.

Note: NEVER ever switch POVs. It is very jarring for the readers and it is also pretty unprofessional. Determine what POV you want to use and stick to that POV for the rest of the story.

Perspectives - The issue of perspectives is a very interesting one. The reason I say that is because perspectives on a same matter can change depending on the characters' personalities. Skilled authors can actually use the contrast between the characters' perspectives to bring about a message or effect to the readers. It is very important to ensure that your characters have different valid perspectives so that they appear more unique.

// 1.3 DESCRIBING EXPRESSIONS AND ACTIONS:
Expressions:
1. Get a rough idea on how the character is feeling. I'll use angry as an example.
2. Visualise yourself. What do you usually do when you're angry? You can also research and see what are the common signs of anger. (e.g. eyes burn with fury, nose scrunches up etc.)
3. Remember the key face features: mouth, eyebrows, eyes, nose... They will help a lot when you want to describe the expression of the character.
4. Sounds also help. (e.g. clicking of the tongue)
5. If you want to take a step further, you can also make it that each character has his/her unique way of expressing emotions. That can also reflect on their personalities.

Actions:
1. Ensure that the actions coincide with their personalities. (e.g. a gentle man won't throw rough punches at people, unless there is a valid reasoning behind that).
2. The actions should have a motivation behind them. For instance, A slaps B. There are many reasons why A may do that:
- It can be because A hates B.
- It can be because of the first reason, but not as straightforward as that. A may be best friends with B before, but perhaps B has done something, thus resulting A to feel that B has betrayed A.
- It can also be because A is very angry at that time and B just comes along to add fuel into the fire (thus resulting in A slapping B).
Basically, there should be a reason why your characters do certain things. To describe actions, what you should do is put yourself in the character's shoes. If you are faced with a certain situation or emotion, what will you do (taking into consideration of the EXTENT of the situation and the PERSONALITY of the character as well)?
- Let's say your character is a man who doesn't commit any crime. However, he is presented in a situation where his loved ones are kidnapped. This therefore leads him to kill all the kidnappers. If this scenario is executed properly, then this can be a highly impactful scenario.
The previous scenario shows the impact that the man's loved ones have on him, and also emphasises on their close relationship.
Thus, bringing a contrast is important if you want readers to feel the emotional baggage of the characters. 

// 1.4 DESCRIBING SCENERY:
Usually, unless you need to bring about a certain message, there's really no need to describe scenery (because nobody really cares about what happens in the background, doesn't it?) However, skilled writers will use scenery to possibly:
1. Foreshadow something.
2. Present the emotional state of the characters.
Foreshadowing can go like this, for example. Let's say the weather is very rainy today. This can possibly hint that the roads will become very slippery and that a car accident is about to occur.
Presenting the emotional state of the characters can go the very cliche way. For instance, A and B are a couple. They have broken up, so A feels very sad as she walks back home. Then, it starts raining (but try not to use cliches as much as possible; your readers may end up rolling their eyes instead).
Scenery can also vary depending on the character's perspectives. Colours can also be utilised. For example, a depressed person's world may appear colourless and lifeless. However, ever since he has met xxx, his world, which was once devoid of colours, may suddenly be filled with vivid colours. This is a little cliche approach, but it can be pretty effective sometimes.
Then again, don't overuse the same scene. For example, the rainy scene shouldn't be used everytime a person is feeling sad (it'll feel repetitive and the effect will be lost very soon).

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I hope this may come of some help to people because I, myself, have huge difficulties attempting to do narration. Next up will be dialogue!