Description

Dear Shell,

Time for another writing assignment. Today's assignment: Take a random word and write two pages about that word. Random Word is: Description (found through a random word generator).

The word description means painting a picture for your readers with your words. While too much description can be boring, not enough description can leave your readers wanting more. You want to include enough information for the reader to picture the object or scene but still leave room for their imagination to fill in minor details that will enhance the story for them.

When showing your reader about the house your character is entering, if you describe it as an 1880's Queen Anne Victorian complete with turrets, towers and a wrap-around porch, painted in a pale lavender with russet-colored trim, the reader's mind will most likely fill in the minor details about the design of the gingerbread trim or shape of the windows, based on what they know about Victorian period homes. Unless the gingerbread trim and windows are vital to the story and characters, you do not need to spend three, four, ten pages describing each twist and turn. Your character could idly glance at the trim, maybe have a random thought about how beautiful it is, but they don't need to expound on the details of that trim.

Knowing what to describe and what to leave to the reader's imagination is important. How you describe an object or scene can set the tone for your story as well and let the reader know more about your characters.

Example: If you describe your exercise equipment as the "torture device with cables designed to strangle the first person to come near", you give the impression of a character that hates exercise and views the exercise equipment as a death trap.

I'm personally bad about writing descriptions. I have to keep reminding myself to go back and add in descriptions that I completely skipped over or didn't think about. I know what it looks like in my mind...I just forget that my reader can't see into my mind to see the same thing!


Thinking of ways to describe items better,
Shell