Confession Time! What’s the Worst Part About Creative Writing?
Easy. Descriptions. I absolutely used to hate writing descriptions. Whether I needed to set a scene or describe a character’s looks, I always dreaded the moment of having to sit and think of the best way to “paint a picture” of the simplest visions in my head. In fact, I hated it so much to the point where I inserted brackets on my rough drafts that instructed me to return later to write the perfect description I didn’t feel like writing at that time.
Sometimes I thought of how much easier it would be to be a screenwriter who didn’t need to describe a scene in a narratively pleasing way. They simply display their imaginations on the television for everyone to see, and everyone instantly processes what’s going on. The same scene that takes a lot of time to both read and write, can be communicated in a quick second on screen.
Why I Used to Hate Writing Descriptions
I much prefer writing dialogue, or introspection that feels poetic and philosophical. This is the part of writing that made me excited and feel giddy inside.
Writing descriptions on the other hand felt like a chore. It was a struggle to find that perfect adjective on the tip of my tongue, or that perfect metaphor meant to create an exact picture of what I imagined. It didn’t help that I compared my writing to established writers who created the most beautiful sentences with seamless prose. Writing seemed effortless for everyone except for me.
How I Got Better at Writing Descriptions
1. Changing My Mindset – Understanding the Purpose of Descriptions
I stopped thinking of descriptive writing as a chore to check off my list, but instead as a tool to help the reader envision the most important parts of my story. It was no longer prose that I wrote to impress the reader, but a device that guided the reader to feel what my characters are feeling, and to see what my character is seeing from a unique perspective. You see, when we each observe the world around us, there are different characteristics that stand out to us. No two people are going to look at a single picture and articulate it in the same way.
Descriptions can be used to invite the reader into the perspective of your character. My advice is to point out the qualities that stand out to your character in particular, or to describe it in a way that relates to what they are familiar with.
Descriptions are also used as a tool to establish the mood of your setting. Writers don’t decide to make it sunny or rainy at random. For example, if you want your reader to feel relaxed in a particular scene, you might bring attention to the wind breezing through the air, or the classical music playing in the background. In contrast, if you want your reader to feel afraid, then you’d bring attention to the darkened room and the slow rhythm of creaks in the wooden floor as a dangerous stranger approaches them.
Finally, I’d advise you not to waste your words. You do not need to spend a whole paragraph describing what an apple looks like (the only way I would see this as acceptable is if there is something “off” about that particular apple, or if you want to highlight how hungry your character is). As long as you give a general outline of what you are trying to show, the reader will fill in the blanks. Here’s a summary of what you’ve learned.
Purposes of descriptive writing:
- Creating an atmosphere for readers to immerse themselves into
- Establishing the mood or tone
- Bringing attention to the most important and unique qualities of a character or setting
- Invite the reader into the perspective of your character
What descriptive writing is NOT for:
- To impress the reader
- To fill up space
2. Read
To become a good writer, you need to first be a good reader, right?
Reading others work helped me see the flaws in my own, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I noticed things they were doing well or not so well. I also picked up on multiple habits that distinguished them from other authors. From reading how writers describe observations, movements, and everything in between, there is a lot to learn.
3. Becoming More Observant of The World (Similes & Metaphors)
To become a better descriptive writer, I had to learn how to be more observant of the world around me. You would be surprised about the number of similes and metaphors you may find when you step outside. Suddenly creating a vivid picture becomes easier when you compare a bright light to a full moon, or a scar to the patterns etched in a tree.
It doesn’t only have to be nature you use for comparisons. Take a look at the environment currently around you. Maybe there’s a metaphor hidden in that single piece of thread sticking out from an old pair of jeans, or those abandoned holiday decorations you forgot to take down. I think you get the point.
As mentioned before, try to use comparisons that relate to the already established setting of your story. For example, if your story takes place in the isolated mountains, it is better to compare a character’s height to the trees in the wilderness rather than the skyscrapers found in a city.
4. Choosing a Style
After reading the work of multiple authors, I realized there are multiple ways to describe one thing, therefore eliminating my need for perfection. No two authors are going to look at the same image and describe it in the way. So, it’s important to choose a style that best resonates with you and the type of story you are trying to tell.
5. Learning Which Words to Remove
There’s a list of words you should cut from your writing that is often seen in amateurish work. They’re called filter words, which are the unnecessary words that take your reader out of the immersion of your story. I found that by removing filter words in my story, I was forced to replace them with language that was more immersive and concise.
6. Challenging Myself
Keeping these three observations in mind, I set out to try my hand at descriptive writing myself. Line by line, I thought about what details readers need to know to establish a certain mood, and I sought to articulate it in the most “peculiar” way as possible. While practicing, I was also discovered multiple similes and metaphors that I will reuse them for one of my more serious writing projects. And you can do the same.
Time for you to start practicing. If you need more help on improving your descriptive writing, here are some articles: