Tips on Descriptions

Consider the accuracy and relevance of what you describe.

• Don’t describe the “old, scarred, rickety maple table in the foyer” when a simple “table in the foyer” will do because the table has nothing to do with the story.
• Or, make it relevant. “A sentry bounded by weeks of unopened mail” becomes an object with a purpose in the household.
• Too much description at one time leaves the reader left to drum their fingers until the writer gets back to the plot.

A detail is a word or phrase or image that helps the readers “see.”

• One way to make a setting come alive it to describe one thing in relationship to something else.
• The size of a tree becomes more vivid if you describe the bird’s nest wedged into the end of one of the branches or the nuthatch working its way down the miles of trunk.
•  A river can look black against a blue sky, or blue against a backdrop of pale buildings.
• “John showed up with a gun” describes an event.
• “John arrived, pistol glinting in his hand” describes the same event with a bit of atmosphere.

Too much telling can flatten your story; too much showing can overwhelm it.

• In their most technical form, showing can be thought of as scene, telling as narrative.
• Readers won’t complain that you’re “telling too much” as long as your prose sings.
• In showing, inexperienced writers often take “showing” to extremes. They believe that good description means showing everything right down to the polka-dots on the characters’ underwear.
• Sometimes it’s better to come right out and tell.

Show, don’t tell” is merely a guideline for beginning writers, not a rule.

• A good story can be “told” as well as “shown,” and usually a combination of the two yields the most satisfying descriptions.
• Generally, show through scene and tell through narrative.

Scenes and Narrative

• Scenes are most effective when you are trying to reveal the complex interplay between characters or between a character and himself.
• Narrative is most effective when you are trying to fill in background information or move quickly through time to connect two scenes.
• Don’t forget cadence of a character’s voice as part of describing them.