Writing Tips and Techniques (Writing Help)

Description

I noticed that a lot of people have asked me something about description, so I figured I'd make another chapter. I separated some different elements of writing description below.  

Specific Examples

Specificity is key! No generalizing. Really dig down into a situation, zoom in, and focalize on the minute stuff. Instead of telling me "It was cold outside," show me. "Flecks of snow stuck to her hair and eyelashes and piled in the gap between her jacket and crossed arms." Instead of "He could tell she was upset," "She kept turning her face away and rubbing her eyes. She'd sniffle, then cross her arms again." Jane Austen is famous for stuff like this. She rarely, if ever, comes out and tells the reader when characters have feelings for each other. But because of her details, you can tell.  This concept is also a big part of poetry if you're into that. Poetry is pretty much all showing-not-telling.

Stay Away From Cliches

A cliche is a really common/overused phrase or saying. For example: "You're in my heart," "I'm dead inside," "I can't live without him." Stuff like that. Sadly, a lot of stuff has fallen into the realm of cliche, forcing readers to get more and more creative. For example, when describing someone who's angry, it's a cliche to say that "she balled her hands into fists," or something along the lines of that. Instead, doesn't "her fingernails pressed into the creases of her palm" sound fresher?   

Strong Verbs

One strong verb replaces the need for adjectives, which makes the description more concise and effective. Here's an example. Instead of saying, "The strong, fast, and cold wind made it hard to be outside," "The wind blustered so that I have to wrap a scarf around my face and hold my hat down."

Sensory Imagery

When describing something/someone, incorporating sight, smell, touch, sound, and taste will ground what you're describing and make it more interesting.  A woman  might be wearing enough perfume that you taste it, a house might smell strongly of the dog that lives there, the man's stubble scratched the girl's face when they kissed, the sound of car horns outside are loud enough that the ladies have to shout to hear each other during their tea party.

Defamiliarization

You know how we associate certain adjectives with certain nouns? Like, how, if I say "scraggly," you either think of an old dog or a beard. Or if I say "dingy," you think of a bar or a motel. Defamiliarization is the concept of using unexpected verbs and adjectives to describe something. Something like, "her fingers squished computer keys." "He pecked at his sandwich." It makes your story sound fresher and counteracts cliches.

Setting & Character Description

I think you guys will be able to relate when I say sometimes I'll have a general idea of what I want a place or a character to look like, but it's foggy. For times like these, it really helps to go to Google Images. Just look up what you have (teen girl with brown hair, fancy bedroom, cabin living room, fantasy forest). For the actual description, I like to start on one aspect and connect the pieces. For example, tasteful oil paintings hang on the white wall, just above blue sofa cushions. See what I mean? It flows naturally. The same thing applies to character description. Here's something from an older verson of my short story ,"Magic": 

He was tall, with the shoulders of his buttoned purple blazer pushed back, hand clasped behind him. The gashes of comb teeth were fresh in his graying brown bangs, arched back so that his forehead looked longer than it was. Brows weighed the skin beneath them down to overshadow his eyelids. The dark brown irises almost drown his pupils out. The tip of his nose tilted upward, with creases that ran from both nostrils to the corners of stretched lips.

For character description, instead of dumping all the description in at once, you can sneak it in through actions. "I push long blond hair behind my ear." "His blue eyes find me across the room." Keep in mind that the more specificity you use when describing a face, the more your reader can picture them. Instead of just sticking to hair and eye color, notice how I described the shape of the man's eyes and the way his nose tilted up. You got a much more vivid image than if I would've said "His hair was brown, and he had dark brown eyes."

Thanks for reading! I hope this helps ;)