Questions tagged [description]
Painting a picture with a thousand words.
374
questions
11
votes
4
answers
2k
views
Everyone is beautiful
I've noticed a quirk with the narrator voice of one of the two novels I'm working on. This narrator only describes the beautiful aspects of every character's features. You might think the women are ...
11
votes
4
answers
3k
views
How to stop viewing your story as a film
When thinking about scenes and story ideas, I can't help but picture something playing out as a movie. It's so much easier to picture someone moving and doing things than to actually describe what ...
11
votes
3
answers
6k
views
How to describe a diverse set of characters without falling into purple prose or exoticism?
In my setting, a city was founded by people from all over the world, and developed in almost complete isolation (long version here). The story in itself starts several generations after the foundation....
11
votes
2
answers
4k
views
Alternatives to raising eyebrows to show surprise
I’m trying to reduce the number of clichés in my manuscript, and I’ve found 11 instances of characters raising their eyebrows. A couple I don’t mind, but it feels like too many.
What other actions can ...
10
votes
4
answers
2k
views
What are some ways of extending a description of a scenery?
I find it very hard sometimes to describe a scenery, especially when the features are very bland, like you describe a city where all of the buildings are tall and look about the same or a plain with ...
10
votes
6
answers
2k
views
When writing down a huge amounts of detail is inevitable
In hard-SF the writer has to adapt to the world and its limitation.
Under normal circumstances, this shouldn't a problem, as you can always make something great, even with the limitations.
However, ...
10
votes
7
answers
12k
views
Is it important to describe how the characters are dressed?
One thing that I never mention in my stories is how the characters are dressed. Well, except when they are being described for the first time, when the main character first meets them. How important ...
10
votes
5
answers
8k
views
Pregnancy in writing - A bit difficult
In one of my stories, I have a chapter that is all about a woman's first pregnancy and her experience. It is a fictional woman but still, because my writing tends to be on the scientific side of ...
10
votes
5
answers
3k
views
How to avoid pages of dialogue?
I'm starting my story with my protagonist found (by the police), bleeding at a crime scene. When he wakes up, he has no recollection i.e. he's lost his memory. He's interrogated by two Inspectors, ...
10
votes
4
answers
9k
views
Is shaking of the head positive or negative?
When you say a character shook their head, does that mean they nodded, as in "yes", or they shook it sideways, signifying the answer is "no?"
10
votes
4
answers
2k
views
What's the difference between purple prose and vividly descriptive writing?
Elements of Style describes purple prose as "hard to digest, generally unwholesome, and sometimes nauseating." In short, it's ornate, contrived and breaks the narrative.
There's plenty of advice on ...
9
votes
9
answers
5k
views
How do I write about nerdy concepts without sounding like a tryhard?
How would one express nerdy gobbledygook without sounding like a technical tryhard? For instance, if I were to explain the backstory of something and it perhaps contained the word electromagnetic or ...
9
votes
7
answers
8k
views
In what order should I describe a setting?
For instance I'm describing the park of an art museum in a foggy day. I'm not sure if I should start with the fog, wind, grass, threes, walking paths, buildings, stairs or something else. Is there a ...
9
votes
7
answers
5k
views
Writing about extreme trauma
I've just written a chapter in which one of my protagonists witnesses her entire family massacred during an invasion of her home city. This is obviously an extremely traumatic and horrifying event and,...
9
votes
6
answers
787
views
Building a scene and readability
When building a scene at the beginning of a chapter for instance, before character interactions take place, what are the important elements to consider, and how long should the description be, before ...
9
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Sensory Information Overload
I'm reading The Book of Human Emotions by Tiffany Watt Smith (good stuff if you want to inform the use of emotion in your writing), and I've just come across Overwhelmed (feeling). It talks about the ...
9
votes
6
answers
9k
views
How to introduce a world that's alien to the reader
I'm writing sort of a space-opera and I was wondering what would the best way to explain everything about the world to my readers. The story is kind of a political intrigue, and it would be very easy ...
9
votes
5
answers
757
views
Am I breaking the "show don't tell" rule in the following passage?
Then, as if sensing my presence, the girl turned around. She looked
young. Probably sixteen or seventeen. She had long black hair, crimson
red lips, and a skin so pale it made me wonder whether ...
9
votes
3
answers
792
views
How to write about what you don't know?
I am a strong believer in writing what you know. Everything I write is at least partially based on something that I have experienced.
My problem is that for plot reasons, I need one of my characters ...
8
votes
7
answers
1k
views
How specific should descriptions of settings/appearances be?
Some people tell me there are not enough descriptions in my book, some say there are too much. How do you know how much detail is enough?
Is there like a rule of thumb for these things?
Do I leave ...
8
votes
5
answers
3k
views
How do you describe things without making a list of characteristics?
Like my question above, I am mostly messing up at describing my character without making a huge list of words.
It sucks to know that readers are now skipping over the description that tends to be ...
8
votes
9
answers
1k
views
Good idea to describe the heist place before the heist begins?
I'm working on a heist scene where five thieves are supposed to enter a corporate building and steal a few documents. It's supposed to be a major scene so it won't be short. I need the readers to ...
8
votes
1
answer
1k
views
How to make a fiction more visualizable by readers?
I was reading through Agatha Christie's novels and I found that she literally made me visualize everything in the plot.
How does she do that?
8
votes
6
answers
5k
views
Writing about drug induced hallucinations and paranoia
Not long ago I wrote a short story about a mathematics graduate student on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The young student is innocent and working to finish a difficult mathematical derivation ...
8
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Is this kind of description not recommended?
I think I read somewhere that when writing, you shouldn't describe characters by their characteristics
i.e.
The tall man walked across the room
Is this true? Maybe I'm misremembering
8
votes
4
answers
456
views
How to describe something, that would normally be shown by facial expressions?
When I think of a scene, I often think of little hints or gestures, to express certain things or thought processes. For example a character breaking eye contact, but quickly looking back to not show ...
8
votes
4
answers
637
views
Tips and tricks to describe more
I'm careful with the phrasing of this question as it is dangerously close to be opinion based. Everyone has their preference regarding the amount of description they expect to find in a work of ...
8
votes
3
answers
492
views
Naming things the POV character doesn't know
My middle-grade novel is third person with one primary and one secondary viewpoint character. Sometimes the narrator hovers a bit more, sometimes the narrator is more in the character's head.
The ...
8
votes
3
answers
454
views
Knowing when to use pictures over words
When writing about food, be it a cookbook or a food blog, as long as the media supports it, the use of pictures is going to make a difference in the quality of the work. So when I am writing about ...
7
votes
6
answers
2k
views
How can I write a book where a lot of explaining needs to happen on what is visually seen?
I have a story in mind that I would like to put onto paper. However, this story takes place in a world vastly different to ours with complex wildlife. Think about the movie Avatar, something among ...
7
votes
4
answers
632
views
Describe illustrated characters?
I'm writing a YA fantasy novel in my free time that I plan to illustrate myself. Most if not all named characters will have their 'picture' presented to the reader as soon as they are introduced.
...
7
votes
6
answers
707
views
How do I write an action scene?
I have recently written an action scene, and I am not satisfied with it. It sounded choppy and inconsistent, and I'd love to know how to write it so it makes sense, doesn't sound like a robotic ...
7
votes
4
answers
310
views
How does one go about describing someone doing Naruto like hand symbols?
Like how do I describe if someone is doing symbols with their hands like this? I want to describe specific hand formation but that seems like it’ll be a whole paragraph just for one second of saying ...
7
votes
4
answers
140k
views
How can I describe nervousness?
Becoming nervous in the heat of a situation. Perhaps you witnessed something not for the faint of heart.
Like, how would I describe shaky legs without being so boring about it.
7
votes
4
answers
4k
views
How to realistically describe pain?
So, I was doing a writing excersie, I came up with, to help me with sentence structuring and developing my style. One thing, I ran into, however, was that I couldn't describe pain very well.
The ...
7
votes
7
answers
2k
views
Is a specific physical description of characters required, or l can the details be left to the reader?
Does a physical description have to be specific to make a character feel real, or can the physical description be general and the details be left to the reader's imagination?
7
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Do I need to repeat character descriptions of main characters from one book to the next?
In the second book of my trilogy, do I need to repeat everything about the main characters' appearance from the last book, or can I just mention a few key things?
7
votes
2
answers
510
views
How do I get rid of overused words in my story?
I did a word frequency analysis on my story. Unsurprisingly, the most over-used words often corresponded to passages where I was lazy with my description.
I'm tackling my over-used words "laughed" ...
7
votes
2
answers
228
views
Any helpful tips on how to, better use description in my writing?
I feel as if, the novel I am writing will have a great plot and I have some creative ideas on where to go with it. My only concern is my ability to develop description through out my story. Any tips ...
7
votes
2
answers
203
views
Sentence openings variations to avoid repeating determiners and pronounces
I have a question regarding sentence openings in English language.
When I write most of my sentences start with determiners and pronouns (personal and posessive). This gets repetative quickly.
For ...
6
votes
8
answers
3k
views
Describing something that doesn't exist [duplicate]
I'm in the middle of my first draft for my novel, and I can't seem to properly convey to my audience the image I'm trying to describe.
That's what I want to show my readers, but it's coming across ...
6
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Describing the taste of food
I’m asking about this not because I have a tendency to do so myself, but rather because I find it unusually aggravating when I come across it in other people’s works. I’m wondering if this sort of ...
6
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Describing body language?
This is something I've pondered before. I asked about one gesture on yahoo answers long ago. All I got was a guy saying that even he didn't know the term for it (it was the gesture where someone holds ...
6
votes
4
answers
1k
views
How can I describe technology while avoiding problems with scaling?
Worldbuilding chat has pointed me to this stack because it's less about defining the technology and more about how to express these definitions in a relatable and realistic way.
A pretty frequent ...
6
votes
3
answers
413
views
How to find ways to enhance character's sensory experience?
A common piece of advice young writers get is to use all of the senses with which the POV character perceives their surroundings.
I can feel how important this piece is. I would like to describe ...
6
votes
4
answers
1k
views
How do I describe an accidental kiss between the two main characters that is romantic as well as regretful?
How do I describe an accidental kiss between the two main characters?
I want to make it so they got caught up in the situation and that both of them apologise to each other after that, like a kiss ...
6
votes
4
answers
497
views
How do you use showing in animal fantasy?
When I read showing in stories with people, they describe facial expressions for showing (among other things). What can a writer use in an animal fantasy? I'm sure it depends on the animal, but ...
6
votes
4
answers
1k
views
How do you use adverbs properly in fiction writing?
How do you use adverbs properly in fiction writing?
In a related question, a reply states:
When to use [adverbs]? When your alternative would be pretentious. There are strong nouns and verbs, that ...
6
votes
4
answers
2k
views
How should you describe turning pages quickly? [closed]
I want to describe this action. How should I describe this action?
6
votes
3
answers
198
views
How to describe a seemingly-random doodle/symbol, whose details are significant?
In my Crime/Mystery/Drama screenplay, there’s a seemingly random doodle at the bottom of a mysterious note.
The random doodle looks like a three eyed stick man with a hat.
It is drawn with only lines ...