After over six decades of life, the answer to Callie’s question, at least for me, is a resounding no. When I’m surrounded by mountains, or forests, or oceans, I still find myself catching my breath and counting my blessings. I don’t believe I’ll ever develop an immunity to the wonders of the world.
It’s true, though, that embracing the beauty requires effort on my part — a mindfulness, a presence. To appreciate my surroundings, I must first notice them. And as I transition from tourist into writer, the question becomes: how do I share those sights with readers?
For me, it’s a daunting task. Action scenes? I can handle them. Dialogue? Let me at it. But description? It’s an area in which I often feel woefully inadequate.
My tendency as I address the issue is to overwrite, as if more is better. Then, I remind myself to think like a reader. When I’m immersed in a novel, I want to be provided with just enough description to allow me to visualize the outline of a scene, but I don’t want to be sidetracked by too much verbiage. Give me enough that I can feel the peace (or chaos) of a place, but not so much that I get so busy deciphering the language and am sucked out of the story. Allow me, as a reader, to do some of the heavy lifting by using my own imagination.
The same is true with characters. I enjoy it most when an author gives me a few key descriptors so I have an idea of age, general body type, hair color. But I don’t want or need to be apprised of every minor detail. Leave it to me to fill in the blanks for myself. It helps me become part of the story, to walk in the setting alongside the characters I’ve helped create.
That is the challenge, one that makes me thankful there’s an editing process.
Writers, what advice do you have about writing description? Readers, how much is too much?
The Callie Cassidy Mystery series is available on Amazon Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and paperback.
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Lori Roberts Herbst writes the Callie Cassidy Mysteries, a cozy mystery series set in Rock Creek Village, Colorado, and the soon-to-be-released Seahorse Bay Mysteries, set in a Texas cruise port town. To find out more and to sign up for her newsletter, go to www.lorirobertsherbst.com
For me, more than a few sentences is too much. I tend to skim over those parts - reading quickly to get the feel and being frustrated that the story is being interrupted. Too much description makes me think the writer was padding the story, even though that probably isn't true most of the time.
ReplyDeleteI can see that. I'm much the same way. But I don't want those couple of sentences to set the mood and get a feel for the place.
DeleteI tend to be a minimalist in both character and scene description -- except when I get carried away sometimes. In those occasions, I rely on my red-pen edits to curb my enthusiasm.
ReplyDeleteAs a reader, I don't care for long descriptions of any kind -- including drawn out procedures in police procedurals. I recently put a book down that provided such detailed driving instructions I could have drawn a map of the area.
Oh, so true. Sometimes it feels as if an author has so much knowledge that they feel like we all want it, too.
DeleteFor descriptions of nature, smells like warm rain on asphalt and sounds like the crunching of dead leaves underfoot.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! Tapping into other senses makes a big difference.
DeleteSometimes a few details can convey a lot. The peeling wallpaper in the entry way, the diamond earrings sparkling in the sun, the seagulls dipping over the endless salt marshes as the tide goes out--to me, they conjure up an entire vision.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! Beautifully said!
DeleteTerrific post, and beautiful photos. I’m glad you had a wonderful journey. Writing descriptions is one of the hardest things I find in writing. I’m so accustomed to writing, lean and boring, it’s hard for me to inject description of what’s going around in a scene. I admire anyone who can do that and make it interesting and entertaining.
ReplyDeleteI taught journalism for 25 years, so I'm used to lean also! That's one of the reasons description comes so hard to me, I think.
DeleteEnjoying the responses. Description is tough.
ReplyDeleteI tend to skim through long passages of description. Give me one or two key details that also lean into the character's take on life. That's all I need.
ReplyDeleteWhen an author feels it is necessary to describe the same thing multiple times, e.g. someone’s hair, caramel color then maple then light brown it is two too many when it appears throughout the story.
ReplyDeleteIt is usually used to describe a character’s appearance but often used for a pet, car or some other object.
I usually just skip over these sections, I just find them annoying because it detracts from the story at just seems to be word padding to me.