Comments on: 5 Ways to Liven Up a Description

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By: Prompt: Give a Dull Description a Boost - DIY MFA : DIY MFA

Prompt: Give a Dull Description a Boost - DIY MFA : DIY MFA — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 13:44:30 +0000

[…] short–about 100 or 200 words. Now apply the techniques from Wednesday’s post: 5 Ways to Liven Up a Description. Here are some things to consider when reworking the […]

By: Gabriela

Gabriela — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 15:41:14 +0000

In reply to asraidevin. Remember that with description, less is usually more. Most of the time, being "to the point" is great (after all, meandering about setting and appearance can get boring both for the reader and also for the writer.) Give your reader that one true detail or image to "hang their hat on" and that's usually plenty.

By: asraidevin

asraidevin — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 06:07:40 +0000

Thank you for the tips. I tend to focus on the plot and the characters and I don’t take time to describe everything as drawn out as i could, so I need tips like these to help me become more verbose. I’mt a cut to the point type of person, so meandering about setting or how she felt or who looked like what, isn’t on the forefront of my mind.

By: Sharon T. Rose

Sharon T. Rose — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 16:04:48 +0000

I recall doing #5 in my senior year English class. I loved that teacher. The whole year was basically a creative writing course. She gave us a one-sentence intro and then had us fill one side of notebook paper with a “dark” description and the other side with a “light” description. We used the exact same intro for both POVs.

#1 is so under-utilized. I’ve very sensitive to smells, so that’s a huge parts of my daily experience. It always gets me when a paranormal story featuring werewolves has almost zero mention of smells. Canines live by their noses! We sometimes throw in a token blind character, but we don’t often shift to their POV. Try walking around the house blindfolded for a few hours, or watch the M*A*S*H where Hawkeye is temporarily blinded and learn what he discovers.

By: Prompt: Give a Dull Description a Boost « DIY MFA

Prompt: Give a Dull Description a Boost « DIY MFA — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 11:47:24 +0000

[…] short–about 100 or 200 words. Now apply the techniques from Wednesday’s post: 5 Ways to Liven Up a Description. Here are some things to consider when reworking the […]

By: Gabriela

Gabriela — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 16:26:28 +0000

Ha ha! Yeah, it is a weird image, isn’t it? I chose it because sometimes when you zoom in to one tiny detail, an ordinary object (like a pencil) can appear like sometime much more irksome. The power of description in action!

That’s so awesome about your critique partner’s command of description. I find that I often learn best by watching my critique partners doing awesome things in their writing and trying to figure out how they do it. A nice exercise is to borrow a critique partner’s technique and see what happens when you apply it to your own writing. Even if you don’t use the style in your final piece, it can be a great way to practice and learn the technique.

By: London Crockett

London Crockett — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 02:55:56 +0000

Gabriela, that image is creepy! It looks like a close up of an insect head.

That aside, I love these tips. Re: #3, one of my critique partners is writing a book set in the 12th century with a proto-botanist protagonist. My friend uses concise, specific descriptions of plants to make her world come alive. More than anything else in her writing, it’s the thing grounding her world.

Tip 5 is one I’ve never heard before and will start playing with.

Thanks for the great post.