Crash Course For Aspiring Writers

Descriptions

I just started reading the dreamnotfound fanfic 'Heat Waves' and I'm ready for an emotional rollercoaster baby. And oh my god the writing is amazing. I'm barely in and I love it. Which is what led me to write this chapter.

So I'll be explaining how I describe stuff, and split it into 4 parts.

People

So, people are hard. Their bodies are incredibly complex, which makes it so that you can't describe them as easily as objects. They have many different parts, and are difficult to imagine fully in your mind. I have a tactic for you all: picrew.

I use it whenever I'm creating a new (big) character. I just pop into the website, look around a bit, see one that interests me and tries to make my character in it. This helps a ton because not only to I visualise them, but it also helps me come up with aspects of them I don't already have that are important: skin tone, hair style, eye color, accessories, clothes. Be aware it can take a few picrews to find the one you're looking for.

Places & Scenery

Always, and I mean always, look up places that are close to what you want. This can mean the difference between good scenery and bad scenery. I'll give you an example of what I consider bad scenery.

The mountain was tall. It was covered in snow. The trees were tall, too. Rivers flowed through it. Buildings were scattered across it.

This hurt me to write. Now, I'll rewrite it in my way.

The tall, snow-capped mountain was covered in trees. The tall pines shed their needle coats bit by bit upon the shiny white blankets, forever replinishing their cover. They loomed above any who would dare to step into the mountain. Rivers rushed across it, carrying sticks and leaves all throughout the mountain; a person could jump in at the top and end up at the bottom. Granted, they'd be cold, but they could do it. Small cabins were dappled across the mountain range, smoke escaping their small chimneys.

Try to avoid short sentences that only show one thing; you can do this by grouping together things that you would see as one thing normally: snow and mountain, bed and mattress, bookshelf and books. Try to include details about things in your scene: how pines lose their needles, how the waves crash onto the sand, how a construction site has piles of bricks, stone, etc...

Personification is underrated. A lot of people say it's confusing, and useless, but I have to disagree. I find it adds life into your descriptions. It can make the difference between a limp doll and a tap-dancing puppet. Personification adds that extra layer of je-ne-sais-quoi.

Try to add things that put into perspective the size of something. 'The long river' is nice and all, but 'the river was long enough to surround the White House three times' makes it more feasible in your imagination.

Objects

'But objects are easy!' Shut.

This only applies if you have a custom object in your story.

What you want to do is start with the base, kinda like what a lineart is for an artist. I'll be using an object of my creation for this.

The small golden watch was rounded, with a long chain attached to its top.

Remember, don't overwhelm with adjectives! Three adjectives is the maximum before it gets too much for your readers.

Next up, add your specific changes.

The small golden watch was rounded, with a long chain attached to its top. Shiny blue rune-like markings spaned across its surface, probably spelling something out. Instead of having just the time, it had three circles beyond the glass top: one with a constantly spinning arm, one with the time, and one with a blue arm that ticked down like a car's fuel gauge.

Try to convey your character's confusion in the object if they are confused about it. Don't give the reader all the answers on what it is, keep it vague.

Colors

So, for the unexperienced mind, colors are easy: blue, pink, yellow, green, blue (*wink wink*), red, purple, orange, brown, grey, white, black, beige. But it goes on deeper than just adding 'light' or 'dark' before each color for me. Here's a exerpt from one of my books:

Thick hair descended over her shoulders, reaching her hips, rustling at every movement of her head, creating an endless cascade of small dark green leaves on the seat. It was a beautifully dark green color, like a forest, and if Lon had to give it a specific name, she'd have been torn between forest green and apple. Her complexion was pale, as if there was a sun barrier around her, seemingly never taking in the rays. She wore a dark buttoned up shirt, the collar tucked perfectly. A luxor gold brown trench coat rested upon her shoulders, reaching down over dark pants. The trench coat had dozens of pockets, each weighed down by somewhat moist soil. Plants grew from the pockets, climbing on the fibers, curling amongst the threads and hair. A pair of large round glasses rested upon her nose, a particularly loopy plant growing over the right side. A pad of paper rested on the table before her, along with a eonai feather quill clutched in their hand.

This is the description of one of my characters. You see the fancy words before each color? That's how I roll. I use this website:

https://chir.ag/projects/name-that-color/#79390B

For my colors. It's incredibly easy to use: you drag the cursor to the color and get precise names. Delicious.

Another thing you can use is if you have difficulty with names:

https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/

Milo signing off, take care :D