I think looking at description as a tool rather than a necessary evil might help. You can use description to include exposition, to show what your character thinks of the world, and the biggest thing for me is you can use it to set the mood and pacing.
It's technically a screenplay tip but I think it works for novels too; that describing an action or a moment should take as long to read (or say aloud) as it would take to actually happen. So if I have someone wandering in to, say, the coliseum in Rome, I might take a page or half to describe them gawking up, craning their neck, feeling the wall, etc. Depending on the character they might trip over misshapen steps, or sneeze in a dusty room, or impatiently shoulder past a crowd of tourists. That way you're using description to your own advantage. And even if a reader wants to skip to the dialogue to find out what happens - I'll admit, I've been there with novels before too - they still have something to look back on if they get confused about placement.
Wow what a great tip! I’ve always had a hard time diving into the purple-ish prose that I like so much, and your tip about writing out how long it would actually do the action makes perfect sense. That sounds exactly how it’s done in some of the novels I enjoy. I'm definitely gonna try that one, thanks!
As a fellow reader/writer who finds descriptions slow I tend to use descriptions sparingly (which I'm also trying to change). Unless it's an action packed opening, I start setting a scene with description, to paint the white canvas where the character is in and then I write whatever I want.
But for the edits and subsequent drafts, I try to slow down and visualize what's happening as I read through. Is there an object that suddenly appears in the character's hand but wasn't established before? Can the object's existence be implied or would I have to add a line or two earlier to make sure it didn't suddenly manifest from another dimension (unless that's aspect of the world, then all for it!).
I'll lead with write something you would want to read! But, don't get lost chasing high standards. Once you have that, ensure you factor for who your audience is. So if you want to read something with tight description then, go write that. I always suggest finding a good research read that is along the line of how to want to write, to see things in practice.
As for tips, practice practice practice! A potential way to practice this is maybe start out with images that inspire you, castles sounds like a good one. Just write what you see, just free flow write! Once you feel you stopped, go back review and take some mental notes on where you would rather have gone with it. Do this a few times with a few pictures, then maybe consider start looking through it how some of your characters would. In example "Max" is a solider, so maybe he talk about how effective things are at repelling enemies or how things could be used in combat. Or maybe "Jean" is a shoe merchant, so they are always are focused looking at foot paths, peoples shoes and not really looking up.
I am also still figuring things out, so excited to see what others suggest!
Oh man! I feel this. Everytime I write something, I have to always go back and do a "description-edit" because I never add them on instinct. And because I don't like reading descriptions that *feel* like descriptions (if that makes sense) I always try to have them in a way that they do two things at once. Juls had mentioned some wonderful examples of those. Among other things, if you can color the environment with the specific lense of the pov character, then the descriptions will feel like they have more purpose than simply being a list of colors and shapes.
I think looking at description as a tool rather than a necessary evil might help. You can use description to include exposition, to show what your character thinks of the world, and the biggest thing for me is you can use it to set the mood and pacing.
It's technically a screenplay tip but I think it works for novels too; that describing an action or a moment should take as long to read (or say aloud) as it would take to actually happen. So if I have someone wandering in to, say, the coliseum in Rome, I might take a page or half to describe them gawking up, craning their neck, feeling the wall, etc. Depending on the character they might trip over misshapen steps, or sneeze in a dusty room, or impatiently shoulder past a crowd of tourists. That way you're using description to your own advantage. And even if a reader wants to skip to the dialogue to find out what happens - I'll admit, I've been there with novels before too - they still have something to look back on if they get confused about placement.
Wow what a great tip! I’ve always had a hard time diving into the purple-ish prose that I like so much, and your tip about writing out how long it would actually do the action makes perfect sense. That sounds exactly how it’s done in some of the novels I enjoy. I'm definitely gonna try that one, thanks!
As a fellow reader/writer who finds descriptions slow I tend to use descriptions sparingly (which I'm also trying to change). Unless it's an action packed opening, I start setting a scene with description, to paint the white canvas where the character is in and then I write whatever I want.
But for the edits and subsequent drafts, I try to slow down and visualize what's happening as I read through. Is there an object that suddenly appears in the character's hand but wasn't established before? Can the object's existence be implied or would I have to add a line or two earlier to make sure it didn't suddenly manifest from another dimension (unless that's aspect of the world, then all for it!).
I'll lead with write something you would want to read! But, don't get lost chasing high standards. Once you have that, ensure you factor for who your audience is. So if you want to read something with tight description then, go write that. I always suggest finding a good research read that is along the line of how to want to write, to see things in practice.
As for tips, practice practice practice! A potential way to practice this is maybe start out with images that inspire you, castles sounds like a good one. Just write what you see, just free flow write! Once you feel you stopped, go back review and take some mental notes on where you would rather have gone with it. Do this a few times with a few pictures, then maybe consider start looking through it how some of your characters would. In example "Max" is a solider, so maybe he talk about how effective things are at repelling enemies or how things could be used in combat. Or maybe "Jean" is a shoe merchant, so they are always are focused looking at foot paths, peoples shoes and not really looking up.
I am also still figuring things out, so excited to see what others suggest!
Oh man! I feel this. Everytime I write something, I have to always go back and do a "description-edit" because I never add them on instinct. And because I don't like reading descriptions that *feel* like descriptions (if that makes sense) I always try to have them in a way that they do two things at once. Juls had mentioned some wonderful examples of those. Among other things, if you can color the environment with the specific lense of the pov character, then the descriptions will feel like they have more purpose than simply being a list of colors and shapes.