Five Tips for Writing Description
Posted by annastan on November 20th, 2009. Filed under: A Closer Look, Craft.Thanks to Karen B. Schwartz’s suggestion in the comments the other day, today I’ll be focusing on writing description. Description can be a tricky thing: how do you put in enough that your readers can see the scene but not so much that it becomes tedious?
Here are five things to keep in mind as you’re working description into your writing.
1. Be specific. Vague details take up space but don’t tell us anything new. Instead, aim for concrete descriptions that speak to the reader. For example, don’t tell us something smelled bad; think of a few strong smells that convey just how bad it was (e.g. rotting fish mixed with lavender perfume).
2. Use the senses. If all your description is about how things look, you’re neglecting a lot of other sensory information. However, don’t go into sensory overload! If you’ve told us how the apple pie smells, you could also tell us how it tastes, but do we need to know how it looks or how much it weighs? Give your readers sensory details that enhance the story, not bog it down.
3. Keep it brief. A hundred years ago you might have been able to get away with pages of description, but today’s readers aren’t so patient. Try to pepper in a few well-chosen descriptions in a way that won’t break up the flow of the story. Often this can be done with just a few words.
4. Convey character and voice. Whether you’re writing in first person or in third, the way a narrator or character describes the world around her tells us a lot about her and adds to the story’s voice. Here’s an example from Christopher Paul Curtis’s The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963:
It was so cold that if you were stupid enough to go outside your eyes would automatically blink a thousand times all by themselves, probably so the juice inside of them wouldn’t freeze up. It was so cold that if you spit, the slob would be an ice cube before it hit the ground. It was about a zillion degrees below zero.
Not only can we feel the cold, but we also get a sense of the character’s voice and the fact that he’s prone to exaggeration.
5. Trust your readers. Keep in mind that less really is more when it comes to description. We don’t need to know every detail about a character when she is first introduced, for example. Instead, tell us the things that make her stand out (e.g. she has pointy ears and she always smells like pickles). Give your readers a few clues and let them fill in the blanks on their own.
Remember: The point of description isn’t to show us every detail of the world you’re writing about, it’s to set a mood and convey a sense of time and place so that your reader can become part of the story.
Happy writing!
November 20th, 2009 at 9:27 am
Not only does description set a mood and convey time and place, it makes the story come alive on the page for the reader. And that also helps the reader become part of the story. Great post, Anna!
November 20th, 2009 at 9:29 am
Thanks Andrea! You’re absolutely right; strong description pulls us into a story and makes it feel real.
November 21st, 2009 at 1:17 pm
So true. Thanks for a great reminder.
November 21st, 2009 at 1:47 pm
Nice and concise, just like you say description should be. Sparing but effective use of description in the opening scene is usually a good indicator that I’m going to like a book. Thanks for the post!
November 21st, 2009 at 1:57 pm
Thanks Roxanne!
November 21st, 2009 at 1:58 pm
I’m the same way; if a book has vivid but spare description, I’m much more likely to enjoy it!
November 22nd, 2009 at 7:50 pm
Awesome words, Anna! It’s like the thumbnail approach. Stick with what stands out the most and mention that.
November 23rd, 2009 at 7:28 am
The stories which are the most vivid in my mind are the ones in which the author didn’t describe every detail, but left room for me to do it. Not only does too much description slow down the story, but too much of it can keep your reader from forming their own mental pictures of your world. While some measure of description is essential, especially regarding details which may be integral to the plot or setting, writers can and should trust their readers to fill in the blanks. We only need to give them a solid enough outline to color in!
I’ve often been surprised when looking back over stories I’ve particularly enjoyed how often the images I formed don’t appear in the text. THAT’s the part of storytelling which engages a reader’s imagination and makes them part of the story – when the reader get to do the work of imagining for her/himself. For instance, when I am able to bring my own mental picture of a ruined castle to the story (where every crumbled stone is not described) then the story truly becomes *my* story.
Great post Anna!
November 23rd, 2009 at 7:44 am
Thanks PJ!
John, I love when that happens! You have such a distinct mental image of a character or a setting, but when you go back to look at the text you realize that very little of it was actually described. It’s all about creating a few distinct details that spark our imaginations and make us fill in the rest on our own.
December 5th, 2009 at 5:37 am
[...] 5 Tips for Writing Description, by Anna Staniszewski [...]
December 19th, 2009 at 12:03 am
These are fantastic tips! During revision, I actually record the different number of five senses I’ve got every few pages or so, just to make sure I’ve got a variety.
December 19th, 2009 at 8:00 am
Thanks Stephanie! That sounds like a really good method – I might have to give it a try.
February 10th, 2010 at 12:49 pm
Great points – I particularly like the way you distilled it to ‘tell us what makes the character stand out’. I always find that what I leave out of a description is every bit as important as what I put in.