Do you ever struggle to describe where a character is relative to another one?

[JoshRaed]

I am struggling with it right now. Like I have a character trying to inch from one corner of a room to another. Like I am imagining it in my head but am struggling to explain what a character is doing and why in a way that is not confusing or awkward. Like it's this whole thing where the exact locations of each character relative to each other in the room is very very important.

This isn't an advice post, I just want to hear your stories about this kind of thing.

[cheetoflavoredpasta]

I think I've dealt with something like that before --- more so with places than characters, but sometimes trying to visualize the movement of my story children gets kind of tricky. Personally, if mapping it out in my head doesn't work, I'll draw a map on my phone or something to see what direction someone is heading in and what direction they're starting at. Typically, this is for more larger spaces though, like multiple sections of a building rather than one room, but if the room is complicated enough, I might have some trouble figuring out where people and things are in relation to whatever's around them.

[Kuma]

You can always do very simple maps with paint, I used to do that to get an idea of the action.

I gradually became able to make a mental map of the action in my head and from time to time I go outside and actually plan the action moving myself, getting an actual idea of the space certain actions would occupy.

[TheLemmaLlama]

Absolutely This is why I don't write novels or stage directions in scripts (instead getting positions sorted out when thumbnailing) XD