Descriptions are how the story is told to the readers. It shows what your world looks like, how it feels, sounds, smells, and tastes. Think of description as a camera capturing the narrative. Instead of readers experiencing it as ink on paper, they can fully immerse themselves in the tale.
Like everything else, description can be tricky. You may wonder: how much or how detailed should it be? Is it slowing down my pacing too much? Which can be boiled down to one question: how to write descriptions?
What Makes a Good Description
A good description serves a purpose. It is not just something to fill the blank page. It creates atmosphere, reveals who the characters are, and drives the plot.
A good description is:
- Using clear and concrete language in contrast to vague and generic language. It also includes details.
- Engage sensory details to make the readers feel like they were there. Such as the five senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell.
- Illustrating how something appears through a character’s perspective. For example, a trusting character might think someone lending a hand is nice, but a paranoid character will be suspicious and hostile.
- It is relevant to the current plot. It matches the tone and the pacing of the scene and contributes to the moment instead of appearing random.
What you should describe depends on several factors. For starters, is it relevant? Sometimes you need to describe something in great detail, and other times it is unnecessary and random. It also depends on the author’s voice. Some writers like to describe directly, while others use filters. There is no objective way to say what a good description is and what you should describe, but there are some signs.
For example, instead of saying “she was pretty.”
You can say: “She had a way to make a smudge of makeup look intentional. Her presence was grounded. Undeniable. The lighting always favoured her. It was as if the world bent at her will.”
Both descriptions are valid. It depends on what the scene requires, but in the second example, it is explained how she is pretty. It also lets readers form an image in their heads. This is important, as beauty is subjective. More importantly, it is a great opportunity to use characterization to further develop your characters.
What Makes a Description Poor
Not all descriptions are helpful. Some just drag on and explain irrelevant things. What is dangerous about a poor description is that it can make readers lose interest and stop reading. It also does not get the message across.
Here are common issues:
- Overwriting. Using too many adjectives, metaphors, or long paragraphs with little action. Especially if it does not contribute to the plot.
- A description that is dramatic and overly flowery. It draws attention to the writing instead of the story.
- Pondering on things that do not contribute to character development or the plot.
- Being too vague. Using bland or generic language like “good” or “pretty.” Failing to specify anything can confuse the audience.
Bad description breaks immersion. Instead of pulling the reader deeper into the world, it brings attention to the writing. A poor description makes the characters and the plot secondary elements of the story.
For example, she was pretty. The room was big and looked cool. There was a blue vase.
The description above is inconsistent. It moves the focus from a girl to how the setting looked, and then to a random vase. The readers will have no idea who to focus on. The usage of generic terms does not help either. What looks cool for one reader might be significantly different from what the author intended to illustrate.
How Description Affects Pacing
Description is like the gas pedal of writing. It plays a huge role in how fast or slow your story is. It is not much about what happens in the plot, but how you present it is. The more detailed your description is, the slower it will feel to readers. This is neither a good nor a bad thing. The driver uses the gas pedal as a tool to control the speed of the car. Likewise, the author can use description to control the pacing.
When to slow down with description:
- When you are trying to build tension or in an emotional scene.
- To explore a character’s internal conflict.
- Another purpose is to set the tone of a chapter.
When to speed up:
- In a dialogue-heavy scene.
- To move the story forward.
- When you want to create a sense of urgency.
For example, describing the forest in detail of someone who is chased by an axe killer will kill the tension. The character would be too occupied with running for their life to notice how their surroundings looked. However, if it were a quiet and eerie scene, you would want to describe the forest and how the fog lay as a blanket above the ground. The first one is when you want to speed it up, and the latter is to slow it down.
How to Write Description Effectively
You now know a little about how to write a description. You know what the description is; the key difference between a well-written one and a poorly written one, as well as that, it can help you control the pacing. However, you might still feel unsure about how to go about this one. Here are some tips to write a description effectively:
Use Sensory Details
Use the five senses. What is the character seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling? Unless your character is deaf, has burned all their nerves, lost their tongue, and has a stuffy nose. They will be sensing something all the time. Convey that in your writing.
Show, Don’t Tell
You have probably heard this one countless times. Showing instead of simply stating can be much more meaningful and leave a longer-lasting impact. Whereas telling he was angry, show it. Show how he curls his fist and how his jaw clenches.
Anchor Description in Characterization
Use description to reflect your character’s identity. Show who they are, where they come from, and how only they could say or do that. Embroider your character’s personality in the description. Consequently, it becomes authentic. What is it that only the character notices? How would they depict that?
Even Out Description
Use a mix of action with description. Too much of either makes it overwhelming to read. You need variation on the page for better flow. A story with only action might feel meaningless. It becomes a sequence of events, whereas a narrative with only description falls flat.
Less Can Be More
You do not need to describe every detail of a room or every single feature of a character’s face. Readers are smarter than many authors give them credit for. They can fill the gaps themselves. Therefore, leave room for the imagination. Only describe what needs to be described.
Things to Avoid in Description
When writing descriptions, steer clear of:
- Clichès: Descriptions like “cold as ice” or “as red as a rose.” it has been overused and lost meaning over time.
- Excessive description: Unless it tells us something important for the narrative, it becomes tiring.
- Pausing the story: do not interrupt a scene with paragraphs of description. Weave it naturally.
Description is Storytelling
Writing a good description is not about adding more words. It is about choosing the right one. Not perfect words, just words that flow well together. Every sentence should serve the narrative. That is how to write description.
Not all descriptions are good descriptions. However, keep in mind that it varies depending on the author’s voice and what the scene demands. Different is not a synonym for poorly written. With that in mind, there is only one way to learn how to write description, and that is by writing. Get up and pick up a pen. You will get there before you know it.
