WattyWarriors Fan Magazine 7.0

Writing Tips | Description

Here's a hard one — Details! Description!

Imagery is a very precise aspect of writing, and one whose mastery is essential to becoming an accomplished author. You've got know how far to go, and also where to stop.

Now, you'll have to be a bit patient with us since we're just like a lot of you guys — constantly learning how to write better. Some of you may be well past this and some may not be. We'd just like to provide our take on this.

Today we'll be covering what, when, and how to describe, so without further ado, let's get started!

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— WHAT TO DESCRIBE —

A few major things in novels that usually require description are people, places, and things. You can go about this in whatever order suits your scene. Most often, you would describe what your character sees first. For example:

Ada was slammed back into her body with the force of a hurricane and left reeling. The return of her vision was thrown into her brain and her eyes darted left and right, taking in her surroundings. She was in a small room made of wood. Light streamed onto the floor, dappled with the shadows of the leaves that swayed outside. A treehouse.

"Traeborn," came a smooth, unfamiliar voice and she whirled towards the speaker. The boy she'd teleported with was gone, replaced by an ageless woman with ancient eyes. Her pale brown trousers billowed in the wind as she stepped forwards. She reached out her arm, and Ada saw that her hand was gnarled with age, and a deep, powerful fear took root at the sight of the pulsing sapphire held in those bent fingers.

These are all very standard descriptors, but it's clear that they follow the focus of the main character. Generally, you start out describing your character's feelings/thoughts/reactions, and then spread outward to the environment they're in. As soon as Ada is finished taking in the treehouse and realizing it for what it is, another person calls for her attention. While Ada observes the new character, a significant thing is brought forwards for her to take in.

— WHEN TO DESCRIBE —

As mentioned earlier, the most common time to describe things is when the main character is presented with something new. Transitions should be kept in mind — they can be quiet useful. Here's an example:

A noise much like thunder boomed, and suddenly the light was gone and the treehouse was plunged into darkness. Then, something feathery seemed to rustle around Ada, brushing past her elbows.

Again, these descriptions follow the focus of the main characters, and they show up whenever Ada would logically become aware of them. Here's a situation where Ada might not notice something enough to describe it to readers at first glance:

Just as soon as it had come, the darkness lifted. But this time something was different in the room — she was now alone. The strange person was gone, the throbbing stone taken with her. Ada cast her gaze around, and it came to rest on a stool standing inconspicuously in the corner. She'd seen it before, but hadn't given it much thought. Now, as she drew closer, the wooden piece of furniture, carved with deep, crude artwork, seemed to tremble.

Now this example is a little different from the others because Ada had already seen the stool before; it just hadn't been important enough to mention. But now her attention has lighted on it again, and with deeper focus.