Next letter in the series, again written by Ana Belen. Ana Belen is a friend of mine that I've known for a couple/few years and she also wrote letter B in our series. I hope you enjoy her post! Comment and let her know you read it! :)
If you'd like to write any of the available letters, please let me know so you can RSVP. :D
-Cari
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D - Description
by Ana Belen
Description:
1. A spoken or written representation or account of a person, object, or
event: "people who had seen him were able to give a description".
2. The action of giving such a representation or account.
This is a very tricky subject for authors, whether they know it or not.
Some lay the descriptions on extra thick, like a sandwich with an inch of mayo. I
know…yuck. In other words, they describe everything in excruciatingly meticulous
detail-everything from the kind of leather on a side character’s shoes, to the
species of an ant on a cracked wall in the background.
 |
| Too much description. |
On the other hand, there are authors who get an idea, then transfer it onto paper
or their computer as fast as possible, leaving out everything except for the basic
storyline. But, (to give another food example) this would be like having a hot dog
or burger without any condiments. Yes, it’s edible, but not INTERESTING.
 |
| Too little description. |
You can think up the most complicated, engaging plot, but if you write it dry
and flat, the entire work will flop. No one will be able to see how wonderful
the storyline is, if you don’t add those elements that enhance the reader’s
imagination. Those details that let the reader see what you see in your mind’s eye
are what can captivate your audience.
Your mind’s eye…
What do I mean by that? It’s not just your imagination; it is a whole other
experience.
To explain what I mean by this, look around you. Choose an object near you
(particularly a small, unimportant one) and lock your eyes on it. Stare at it for
about 10 seconds, study it and discover every little detail about it. Go beyond
color, shape and size. What can you see?
I am sure you noticed many things about the object you would have never noticed
with a careless glance. There is intricate detail in everything! Our eyes can capture
so much if we care to look for it!
So now, let’s look through our mind’s eye. Imagine a scene from your most
current work, a past story. Try to conjure up a rich scene of immense and
miniscule detail. Is there much more you could describe to enhance your story?
For example, next to me is a blanket, which I could quickly describe as an old, red
blanket. But with this simple statement, the reader could imagine anything from a
cracked tarp to a dilapidated down comforter! Either could be old, red, and used
as a covering for warmth, right?
This is why you need to go beyond the basics. Consider the following scenarios:
1. Mary saw an old red blanket, and wrapped it around herself because
she was cold.
Or:
2. Mary, shivering pitifully in the chilling wind, spotted a worn burgundy
coverlet, and pulled it quickly around her quaking shoulders, but the
frayed, loose weaving offered little warmth.
Which is more appealing?
Now that we know how to add detail, we need to go back to the first point I
made, which is that many authors use way too much description. This bores the
reader, who is desperate to get on with the story!
In addition, if you take too much time adding detail, writing will become tedious
and grueling work, instead of enjoyable if you take every sentence and elaborate
it as much as possible. This will cause a writer to hit a wall simply from fatigue!
Be careful never to use detail as fillers that end up just as appealing as packing
peanuts. (By the way, have you ever tasted those things? Bleh. -Not to say that I
have… :D) and never, never, EVER forget to have fun writing!
Description can make or break a story, so what we need to find is: BALANCE.
Balance is knowing when, and how much to describe. In my opinion, there are
two types of description:
I. Description that is necessary for the storyline. [e.g., location, MC’s basic
appearance and back story-{see ‘B’}, etc.]
II. Description that embellishes and enhances the story. [e.g., scenery
details, movement {during dialogue, etc.}, emotions, unseen
occurrences, etc.]
Obviously the first is a must-have in writing, but each author will use the other
kind differently.
Remember, this can easily be the fall of every work, so don’t overdo it, OR under-
do it!
Find the balance that suits you and go with it!
3 comments:
Description was one of the problems with my first novel. I had lots of very important scenes with huge spaceships and a very large prison, but I never told the reader what the prison or spaceships looked like. But then I went off the other end, and took too long to describe some of the other stuff in my story (such as gunships and war robots). So I overdid it AND under-did it.
Luckily, I've learned a ton sin then (this post helped), and won't make the same mistakes again. :)
Good post Ana Belen, I don't think I'll ever forget your analogy of a bare hotdog or a sandwich with an inch of mayonaise.
I have a followup question about description.
Your example of "a worn burgundy coverlet" works better than "an old red blanket" because it is more descriptive. If I could figure out a way to describe the coverlet using fewer adjectives, would that be better since it's less wordy? Or does clear description count more than wordiness?
Frindlesmith- Conciseness is an extremely important part of writing as well. Finding one word that has many meanings to describe what you want to say is an art.
Thank you for pointing that out.
The reason I didn't talk about that was because this post was about description, and I had to keep it strictly about that...which, as a matter of fact, is conciseness in and of itself! :)
I am looking forward to reading your post on Editing/Rewriting!
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