Hey all! I'm back, and this time for good. Today, I have a post on descriptions - just a few things I have learned as a writer and reader.
1. As a writer, you have to be your readers’ eyes. Your readers are totally lost when they pick up your story. You need to ground them where they are and what is going on.
Example:
At least I didn’t have to wear a dress to my father’s funeral.
Right away, we know that the main character’s father has died, and that she has a sense of humor. We know that she is probably more of a tomboy, too. We are grounded in the story with a conflict, a mood, and a character.
Take & Use: When you are writing your opening lines, ground your readers with a conflict, a mood, and a character.
2. If you don’t bother to describe your setting, your readers will not understand the story. It’s likely your readers will stumble around in the story until they finally give up and read something else.
Example: (This is a NOT-SO-GOOD beginning.)
“We have to hide.”
“Why?”
“They’re going to get us.”
“No, they aren’t.”Immediately, we wonder: Who are the characters? What do they need to hide from? What is the conflict? If you don’t describe those things, your readers are going to be too frustrated to continue the story.
3. Take your time. Don’t rush through descriptions so that you can get back to the action. Good descriptions will make your characters’ actions more powerful.
Example:
Her hair like gold flew through the hair as she charged him, her blue eyes flashing.
Take & Use: Incorporate descriptions into your action so that it sounds smooth and natural.
4. Most writers
work from a mixture of the real and the imagined. Close your eyes and “see” the things you are trying to describe. Skip descriptions like “eyes as blue as the sky” and dig deeper—try to find your own description that explains how blue her eyes are. Perhaps it could be a robin’s egg or the river that flows by your character’s house.
Example:
The color blue was substandard once you saw her eyes, as graceful and captivating as the river that flowed through the forest with a matchless perseverance.
Take & Use: Consider how you can describe your character without using cliché similes and metaphors. Go beyond the obvious to create descriptions that no other writer has even considered.
5. Find your style for writing descriptions. Some writers prefer a less-is-more approach. In other words, if you like to keep your descriptions simple, that’s fine. Others may prefer long, elaborate descriptions. Find your style and stick with it.
6. The Rule of Three: To use the rule of three, you employ three adjectives in a description, or have a person do three actions, or have a dialogue of three parts. It usually makes the sentence flow a bit better, but it isn’t a rule you need to adhere to at all times. Find what works for you—that’s what writing is all about!
Example: (This is a description using the rule of three.)
Her clothes were rumpled, her hair was disheveled, and she looked like she hadn’t slept in weeks.
Example: (This is a description NOT using the rule of three.)
Her clothes were rumpled and her hair was disheveled.
Good luck with your writing this week! Is anyone participating in
NaNoWriMo?
