TLDR;
This video provides a comprehensive guide to writing effective descriptions in fiction. It covers five basic principles: focusing on the point of view, including sensory details, using strong verbs and adjectives, moving the narrative forward, and avoiding over-description. The video also shares specific strategies from various writers, including character-based approaches, cinematic visualization, emotional permeation, and the use of similes and metaphors.
- Focus on point of view
- Include sensory details
- Use strong verbs and adjectives
- Move the narrative forward
- Avoid over-description
Intro [0:00]
Description in fiction involves using details to help readers experience the story emotionally and visually. It can be challenging for writers to decide what details to include. Description can encompass setting, objects, characters, actions, and internal thoughts, ranging from a single sentence to extensive prose.
Five Guiding Principles for Writing Description [0:54]
The first principle is to focus on details specific to the point of view. Avoid clichés by being specific and original. Author David F. Schultz emphasizes understanding the story's narrative lens, including how the point-of-view character perceives the world. The description should reflect the character's perspective, influencing the details chosen.
Include the Senses [2:31]
The second principle is to include sensory details like sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell to add a visceral dimension to the scene and evoke emotion. Smell is often underutilized but is strongly linked to memory and atmosphere. Avoid generic descriptors and focus on conveying senses in a way that is emotionally relevant to the character or scene. The same sound can evoke different emotions based on the context. Practice expanding sensory memory by actively observing and describing the world around you with emotionally engaging phrasing.
Favor Strong Verbs and Adjectives [4:10]
The third principle is to favor strong verbs and adjectives to express mood and tone. Strong word choices evoke feelings and offer new perspectives. Verbs like "drone," "sputtered," and "screeched" relate to sound and create distinct effects. Replacing weak verbs like "was" with stronger verbs can add voice and emotion. Collect interesting words from reading and use them in your writing. Use a thesaurus, but sprinkle interesting words throughout the story for variety.
Move the Narrative Forward [6:41]
The fourth principle is to ensure that good description advances the story by relating to the character's actions or thoughts. If a character is climbing a tree, describe the sensations they experience. Description can also be a form of characterization, revealing a character's feelings through their physical details or changes in appearance. Connect descriptions to how characters feel about those details in the moment.
Don't Describe Everything [8:50]
The fifth principle is not to describe everything. The descriptive style should fit the character's perspective, the story's tone, and the scene. The author's job is to contextualize the scene and highlight what matters, ordering details to create meaning.
Strategies in Practice [9:45]
The video transitions to sharing specific writing strategies from various writers, offering insights into their drafting processes and influences. Each writer shares a snippet of their own work and an example from a book they admire.
Sarah L. Hawthorne: Character-Based Layer [10:14]
Sarah L. Hawthorne advises writers who struggle with visualizing scenes to add a character-based layer. She focuses on the character's emotions rather than just the setting details. Description should enhance the vibe of the world and the character's perception of it. She shares an excerpt from her Gothic work in progress, "The Drowned Coast," blending descriptive action and dialogue. Sarah admires Jeff VanderMeer's eco-horror novel "Annihilation," noting its dense, rich descriptive work that becomes part of the character and setting.
Joe Butler: Cinematographer's Approach [14:52]
Joe Butler takes a cinematographer's approach by imagining the scene from a fixed point. He describes what he sees from that point with a minimalistic angle, focusing on details that have real meaning and capture the feeling of the space. Joe shares a passage from his dystopian short story, "A Small Life," emphasizing the conflict in the setting. Joe admires "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy, highlighting how sentence-level rhythm contributes to the reader's experience of the description.
Mia VMA: Permeate the Scene with Emotion [18:46]
Mia VMA tries to permeate the scene with a specific emotion, starting with how she wants the scene to feel. She picks a few set pieces and focuses on them. Mia shares an excerpt from her sci-fi Noir novella, "My Ties for the Lost," capturing the chaotic atmosphere of a party scene. One of Mia's favorite descriptive passages comes from "The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms" by N.K. Jemisin, noting how it moves from the sky to a battle below, then narrows to the character level.
Alex Laurel Lands: Connection Between Environment and Description [24:13]
Alex Laurel Lands focuses on the connection between environment and description, pairing descriptions with actions or reflecting on how different aspects of the scene impact each other. She shares an excerpt from her psychological horror story, "Every Little Hair on Your Head," where she balances setting, costume description, and character development. Alex admires Stephen Graham Jones's novel "My Heart Is a Chainsaw," noting how the description is delivered alongside action and personifies details.
Lyle Enright: Crafting Similes and Metaphors [28:42]
Lyle Enright provides advice for crafting similes and metaphors that stem from the world or character. He recommends drawing inspiration from what's unique in the story's setting to craft similes and metaphors the character would naturally use. Lyle shares a scene from his fantasy work in progress, "Taverner," using figurative language that subtly draws on the novel's setting. Lyle's chosen excerpt comes from "The Lies of Locke Lamora" by Scott Lynch, highlighting how the simile compares the shine of candles to something common in the world, and the metaphor enriches the scene by adding something to it.
Writing Exercise [32:41]
The video suggests a writing exercise: choose a character, a setting, and an emotion, then filter the descriptions through that emotion. Give the character a goal for the scene and have them move through the scene, noticing details, including a surprising smell, an object they interact with, and a simile or metaphor derived from the character's background.
Teal Deer Press [34:07]
The writers featured in the video are part of Teal Deer Press (TLDR Press), a non-profit that publishes anthologies of short stories and poems, with proceeds benefiting various charities. They also host an annual flash fiction contest and provide feedback to writers.
