Writing Stack Exchange
Writing Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [description]

Painting a picture with a thousand words.

Questions about how to describe a thing, person, or event. Can cover technique, methodology, detail, characterization, "show, don't tell," amount of detail, stale vs. fresh writing, and how to use respectful terminology.

377 questions
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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 boring and go right into the story. So I would like…
Artemis Silver
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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 subordinance. I'm having a hard time putting these…
Minix
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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 most of it to the reader's imagination, or do I need…
Klara Raškaj
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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 those lines. The scenes I would like to get across…
Murinus
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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 subtle, yet inspirational details that affect the…
Rico
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How to develop a more vivid and descriptive writing style

One of the problem areas that I face while writing my novel is that I often get stuck when writing descriptions. I do well when writing action sequences, when writing dialogues, when showing character interactions but when it comes to describing the…
user96551
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Describing symbols and glyphs succinctly and accurately

The system of writing in my work contains eight basic shapes that get a number of permutations each. One of my viewpoint characters is learning this system of writing for the first time, and I want to give the reader at least a good feel for what…
Weckar E.
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How do I write the names of letters in a book?

I have a situation where I am trying to explain a company logo that is flashing in propaganda. Let us say the logo is an "M" overlaying a "Y," how would I write that? I would think one would write, "The darkness was interrupted as light burst forth…
Matthew T. Scarbrough
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Should I name specific artists?

I'm currently describing a scene of a girl listening to music. My question is, should I say what singer is she listening to? Or I better skip that part and and say something like "she sat on her bed while one of the songs of her favourite singer was…
user16802
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Can my paragraph use better adjectives and descriptions?

I feel my punctuation is all over the place, and the adjectives are not as charming as I think they are. If anyone has watched the beginning of the first Lord of the Rings, where the hobbit is lying in that green meadow, and you think to yourself…
Snowman
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How can I remove the repetition of 'the' from descriptive writing

Consider this paragraph The twilight is small but distinctly visible. The gloomy sky is staring down at the parched roads as the storm began thundering. Gradually, the moon is crescendoing into existence as the sun is waning away. It uses a lot of…
Ved Rathi
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How else to describe: in the mind's eye? (images that appear to the character in the midst of thinking)

Often, my characters will be thinking and flash, some image appears to guide their thought. An example: I promised her. No. You pinky swore. You swore you’ll drudge down to the library and study. She even prepared a worksheet for you. The worksheet…
A.V. Minnesota
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Describing shapes and objects

While I absolutely agree, that descriptions should be experienced through the narrator's / protagonist's eyes in terms of personal involvement, I oftentimes find myself puzzled in describing the basic shapes of objects. There's spheres, toruses,…
at_
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Describing weighing an object in hand

A person holds a stone object in one hand. They throw it up and down in the air, in that hand, a few times, to judge the weight/feel/impact of the object. Does this particular physical action have a (preferably non-sports-related)…
Marty_Oden
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Avoiding -ly Words

"I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs," said Stephen King. He went on to explain that they should be used sparingly, not as a crutch to avoid writing a more descriptive sentence. Sometimes, I find a much more colorful way to express…
Eric J.
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