Newbie question, easy answer

Try to nail-down to sound.

Glass shattering.
Gunshot.
Knock at the door.


By "background" I would think without the character's involvement. Like a bar fight, in his usual bar that he ignores. That would just be a quick touch.

Sometimes when there is a certain sound, pertaining to the story I will describe it.

The echo withing the barrel sounded as if it was full. Maybe with a body inside.

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I really try to stay away from onomatopoeia as much as possible. It sounds comical most of the time.

WillSauger said:

I really try to stay away from onomatopoeia as much as possible.

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I had onomatopoeia once. I caught it one night at a bar during Mardi Gras. I got drunk and woke up in a cheap motel, next to a strange girl. My doctor prescribed antibiotics.

I write it the same way I describe any other sound. I try to focus more on my character, how the sound affects her.

The gun boomed in the car, deafening her ears. The sounds of the city were replace with a high pitched ringing.

In the distance, thunder cracked and rolled across the sky.

The distant yapping of the Poodle drove deep to his stomach. All he could think about was how to kill it.

I don't think there's anything wrong with onomatopoeia. There are so many in our vocabulary now that the most common ones don't even draw attention to themselves. Of course, there is such a thing as too much onomatopoeia. Unless you want your novel to read like a superhero comic.

If you want to establish a sound that breaks into the narrative from somewhere out of focus, I find the cleanest, simplest way is with the sound of it: Crack! Bang! Crash! It doesn't take more time than it needs, it doesn't clutter up the narrative with a lengthy 'character notices sound and turns attention to it' moment. A reader can infer from the fact that a loud noise happened that it got the character's attention, and you can skip right to their reaction.

Of course, that isn't to say that it's the only way to do it, but it works for me.

In my experience as a reader, a little bit of onomatopoeia goes a long way. If the door hinge screes, followed by the chuk-chuk-chuk of its failing pneumatic closer, and the character's heels tock on the tile floor, that's a book I'm closing. I might be just fine with one, although none seems necessary.

Better to save them for the big stuff.

Maryn, thinking car crashes and explosions

.

Jim tightened the last connection. He checked the beach was still deserted, and pressed the plunger. Boooom!

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Jim tightened the last connection. He checked the beach was still deserted, and pressed the plunger.

The muffled explosion threw the cliff face forward. It shuddered, hovered, then collapsed in a choking avalanche of rock and dust.

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I think the occasional onomatopoeia can work, but most of the time, you should just describe the sound normally.

Katalyst said:

When writing a sound that happens in the background of a story. E.G - glass smashing or a loud bang. How do you write it?

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Usually it's a descriptive phrase, but occasionally, when the tension level is high, I'll use an onomatapoeic word. For example, when my heroine was on the receiving end of a sniper attack.

She felt the warm spray before she heard the snap, and a red flower bloomed on Gail's shirtfront. Gail looked faintly startled before collapsing like a rag doll.

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(written from memory--the original doesn't have the filters and other noob issues)

Katalyst said:

When writing a sound that happens in the background of a story. E.G - glass smashing or a loud bang. How do you write it?

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I've used the phone startled me, heard screeching tires and screams, loud knock at the door, moan or grown. all equal sounds to the reader.

I've used clippity clop of the horses shoes on the pavement. to the reader, it can be heard.

Sometimes you can't identify the sound. Say, with my neighbors - we often hear loud popping sounds.

It could be gunfire or fireworks or maybe the kids are blowing up something in metal cans out in the woods. They all sound very much the same, just a loud, sharp bang! And unless you have a pyrotechnic expert or artillery guy (girl) sitting at your table, you don't know what it is.

I also have no problem with onomatopoeia. Whatever you do, write it so the reader will keep reading and not say to themselves, 'What kind of crummy writer is this?'

In my WIP I describe breaking glass like this: I heard glass tinkling to the ground.
I think a slight onomatopoeia can do a lot when describing sound.