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blackpaws

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Hi everyone,

I am constantly getting stuck at the descriptive side of my scenes. I'm good with action and dialogue, and I know where my story is going, but my description is dull and boring. Also, I find I have to pause to do my research or refresh my memory of the setting, to create a realistic atmosphere - so it's prolonging the time I'm spending on finishing a chapter.


Does anyone have any good recommendations or tips on how to get descriptive passages to flow in the story? Or, how to flow in order for description to flow?


Thanks!
 

Shayleigh

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One of the biggest tips I have read and I now use is:

I sometimes think of a scene I want like an old derelict house, then I find a picture of that and describe what I see. Colour, surroundings, sky? Give it a few goes, sometimes it turns out nothing like the picture but you adapt it to what other visions you have.

Or what I do if I'm stuck I go as far as I can with the description and continue the story and leave that scene out and then go back over it the next day. I'm finding I'm constantly finding new words I'd rather use and changing them.

These seem to work for me at the moment, I hope they can help you :)
 

blackpaws

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That's a great idea Shay! Thank you! I will try that tomorrow during my writing session :)
 

Bing Z

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A couple of suggested readings:

Description by Monica Wood (a how-to book).
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt (Pulitzer Prize-winning novel that, among others goodies, showcases scenic descriptions.)

Anyway, IMHO descriptions don't have to be given in one whole rigid package. They can be sprinkled in small doses and with opinionated perspectives (a red mini-skirt vs a skirt that barely covers her [flattering/nasty word] ass vs a skirt that makes her look like a hooker vs a skirt that cost me my virginity and career.)
 

blackpaws

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Thanks for the book suggestions.

I've just downloaded the Monica Wood one on you suggest, so I look forward to reading it. Thank you Bing :)
 

chompers

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Try to use all senses, not just sight.
 

Mr Flibble

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Practice


Get a notebook

At least two or three times a day, jot down little impressions of the things around you -- you only get to note three things so make them work! Telling details. Describe a talk show host, the creepy house at the end of the road, that woman you met at Walmart. Describe the mundane of your life. Bu only those three things -- you have to pick out what the most telling details about the thing/person are.

I will bet that your descriptions will up in no time.
 

rwm4768

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but my description is dull and boring.

Then your description is just like that of most writers (at least in my experience). Write just enough description that the reader can form the rest of the picture. Don't linger on it.

One thing I've heard is that it's best to pick the unusual details in a scene. When you go to a location, readers will often fill in the normal details, so you need to give them those details that they wouldn't fill in automatically.

Let's take a typical fantasy setting: an inn. Nearly everyone who's read a lot of fantasy or played fantasy video games can probably picture a typical inn. So don't worry about describing it. Now, if there's something unusual about your inn, relate that to the reader. If not, don't worry about it.
 

blacbird

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Concentration on POV can help here. Characters, representing people, should realistically notice things of relevance to what they are doing/thinking.What would Character X see/hear/notice, at any given point of your story.

The other thing that (obviously) is helpful is to read, a lot, and pay attention to what the writer is doing in the way of description that enhances the narrative.

Just try to avoid description that functions only to increase word-count.

caw
 

Axl Prose

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When I first started I was caught up in thinking I had to describe everything. Like every other sentence describing something. I started paying attention to books I read and realized how overboard I was going.

One good tip from Stephen King that kind of stuck with me....description begins in the writer's imagination but should finish in the reader's.
 

BethS

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Does anyone have any good recommendations or tips on how to get descriptive passages to flow in the story? Or, how to flow in order for description to flow?

Here's a few things to try:

1) Choose a setting you're having trouble with in your WIP and picture it in your head. Then make a list of its attributes. Chances are, you'll start with the obvious things, the ordinary things anyone would notice. That's fine. Just keep going with that list, until you get past the common into the uncommon, the specific, the curious, and the unique. Then go back to your scene and work in a couple of those unusual details. You'll be surprised at how that can make the scenery seem real.

2) If possible, mention how the light falls. Few things will bring a descriptive scene to life like this will. Painters and photographers use the light; writers should, too.

3) Mention colors. Go past the general into the specific.

4) This one is very important. Tie the description to the POV character. Make it unique to his perceptions and whenever appropriate, include an emotional response. One character might see a meadow soft with summer grass and scattered with red poppies, and feel a weary longing to lie down and rest. The guy next to him might notice the complete lack of trees for cover and how the grass is long enough to hide who knows what and now his spidey senses are tingling.

5) Practice using metaphors and similes. Sometimes a single powerful image is enough to describe an entire setting.

6) Try to avoid long, static blocks of description. If you need a paragraph to describe something, try to include at least one mention of something moving, even if it's just leaves blowing the wind.

7) Don't limit yourself to what can be seen. Use hearing, smell, touch, and taste when possible.

8) And finally, reserve longer descriptive passages for moments when there's a lull in the action. During more active passages, keep description short, just details here and there.
 
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Layla Nahar

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Rwm's point is good. Don't overdo it.

I think studying the writing you like is the way to go. When you read a book, if you find that you're really 'getting' what the author is describing, after you've finished reading the book (because studying on the first read spoils the fun!) go back & look at that scene and ask yourself how did the author have that effect on your mind. Apply the answer to that question to your own writing.
 

WriteMinded

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Good question. I have trouble with description also. The image is vivid in my mind, but I have trouble translating it from picture to words.

Good answers. I will be using some of these suggestions.
 

blackpaws

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Thank you everyone for your fab suggestions, and support :)

WriteMinded - you and me both! I have this whole exciting world going on inside my head, but it falls flat when I get it on the page.

Maybe it really is just a matter of practice and getting the words from vision to brain to hand and out. Mr. Flibble and Beth have some good suggestions.

I've read a couple of chapters of the Description book recommended by Bing, and it is really very good. I'll have to finish it slowly because I'm trying to write at least my first draft :)

I also started to use voice recognition - which helps. I get to look off into the distance (in my mind's eye) to see the scene, and talking out what I see helps - but there's a long way to go. I am using the built in dictation software that comes with Yosemite OS X. It's not bad at all.
 
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