5.5 Tips for Writing Descriptions

Some people dread the thought of writing descriptions. Some people have a natural talent for it. And some people write purple prose.

Either way, descriptions are an important part of most types of writing. Here some tips and ideas:

0.5 Slow Down

First things first: slow down when you write! Seriously. Take a breath. Unless you’re on a really hot streak and you really, really need to get this down before it evaporates and you’re on the edge of your seat and you can’t breathe until it’s done… slow down. Take the time to imagine the thing you are trying to describe. Write a list of words that you could use to describe it. Ways it makes the characters feel. Why it matters. You don’t have to do this for every single setting or event or object or person, but you should probably take the time to do it for the important ones.

Here is one of my favorite quotes from J.R.R. Tolkien, a master of description himself:

“Do not spoil the wonder with haste.” – J.R.R. Tolkien

And, no, this is not permission to procrastinate and put off writing in search of the perfect description. This is permission to sit your butt down in your chair with a piece of paper and a pencil and take time to put those two together and accomplish something worthwhile.

1. Utilize Multiple Senses

You’ve probably heard this before, but one of the easiest and most effective ways to completely immerse your reader in a setting or scene is to employ more than one of the five senses – sight, smell, taste, touch, & hearing. Don’t just rely on what a character can see. If you can, try to pick at least one important detail of your setting or situation for each of the five senses and incorporate that into the narrative. Just don’t make a list out of it, or your descriptions will get redundant and annoying.

2. Use Verbs When Appropriate

This one’s tricky, because you definitely don’t want to overuse it, but sometimes it really helps liven up your narrative if you use verbs to describe things through action. You can say something like “a river danced sparkling through the valley” instead of “there was a river in the valley”. Whether or not to actually use this method though does depend on your desired tone and writing style. It isn’t necessary, nor does it make sense, for every single story type.

3. Get A Thesaurus

This one is actually fun. Don’t drag your feet about it. If you’re a writer, one can assume you at least have some kind of love for the written word or at least a desire to put it to good use. If you don’t have either of these, what are you doing writing? Remember that list of words you may or may not have written to get a sense of the thing you’re trying to describe? Now is a great time to review it. Grab yourself a thesaurus, your list of words, and get to work. Look up the words you picked, write yourself a list of synonyms for those words, pick out which ones will go best in your narrative considering the definition, connotations, and even origins if you feel so inclined. You don’t have to go crazy and purple prose, but this is a great way to expand your vocabulary and give new life to your descriptions.

4. Try Out Some Comparisons

This is where we get to use some fun tools from the Writer’s Arsenal of Literary Devices!

Two types of literary comparison that really help with creating solid descriptions are the metaphor and the simile. I plan to write another piece where I delve into these a little more, but for now here is an overview which I hope is helpful:

Both the metaphor and the simile are ways of describing things or conveying ideas through comparison, though they are not exactly the same thing. One easy way to tell them apart is that a simile will typically include “like”, “than”, or “as” in the comparison, while a metaphor will not and oftentimes contain allusions or references to other art, literature, history, or theology rather than pure description.

Here are some examples of similes:

Her skin was as blue as the ocean.
His eyes were like diamonds.

“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely still.” – William Shakespeare, Sonnet 118

Here are some metaphors:

“Danger’s my middle name!”
“He’s a regular Adonis.”
The answer to this question was his white whale.

Those aren’t great metaphors, but see how they don’t include the words “like” and “as” to compare dissimilar things? A metaphor makes a statement that one thing is so like another as to have taken on its form or characteristics rather than just give an impression of it.

Both of these can be great ways to spice up your descriptions and make them more impactful to your readers. Take your time and try them out – they can be poetic, dramatic, or absurd depending on the tone of your work.

5. Use A Character’s Perception

This is one of my favorite tips for writing descriptions, especially in first person narrations though it works for others as well.

The way it works is you just tell (or show) your readers how this particular thing that you’re describing affects the character from whose point of view you’re describing. This can be how they feel about it, what it reminds them of… basically any of their thoughts, feelings, or ideas on whatever it is, whether it’s a place, person, or thing. Essentially, you’re using the character’s perception of the thing as a lens by which your readers can view it.

This place gave Jake a bad feeling.
He reminded me of a crab I’d once found at the beach.
He thought it was blue, but he couldn’t be sure in this lighting.

Note: one of the things I like about C.S. Lewis’s “The Chronicles of Narnia” is that instead of using the characters’ perception, Lewis will often use his narrative voice to talk to the reader about things they already know and understand. So it’s more like he’s using the readers’ perception to describe things. Depending on your narrative voice, this is can be a useful tactic.

Something to keep in mind with this idea, especially with first person, is that you’ll want to use words that exist in your character’s vocabulary. If they’re a bookworm, they’ll probably describe things with a different set of words than if they’re a sports jock. This is where Tip #3 can be helpful.

 

And, that’s my 5.5 tips for writing descriptions! I hope they were helpful. Feel free to take what you like and leave the rest. Experiment and have fun, and keep writing!