How to Write Descriptions in Fiction

A well-written description lets your reader visualize the people, places, settings and objects in your story. It evokes a vivid picture, yet leaves the interpretation open enough so that if you ask any two readers what they "see," they will tell you something different. A well-written description enhances a story in another way, too--it moves the story along and adds to characterization. Write your fiction descriptions with the following tips in mind and watch your prose come alive.

Instructions

1. Choose what to describe. Look at people, places and things around you in a new way. Notice not just the obvious details, but the less obvious, subconscious details. In observing a man's clothing, notice not just the "denim jacket, white polo shirt, khaki pants and brown leather shoes," but also whether his pants legs brush the ground because he shuffles when he walks, whether the polo shirt has ink marks on it, whether his shoelaces are primly double-laced, or whether there's a grease stain on his glasses where his shiny nose rubbed the lenses. In real life, these details are exactly the kind of thing we subconsciously notice when we look at someone, and these are what you focus on when you write your description.

2. Choose when to describe. Description slows down a scene. So, avoid describing a story element in the midst of an action scene unless you want a pause in the momentum. Only describe when the description serves more than one purpose. Describe a character only when she has an impact on another character or when the description advances the story or you want to slow down the pacing.

3. Choose whose point of view to use. Describing something from a character's point of view makes the description more lively and entertaining to read. "The man wore a shifty expression and dark, frayed pants" is not as lively as, "The man's shifty expression was the first thing Eunice noticed--that, and his dark, frayed pants gave her serious misgivings."

4. Be specific, but not too specific. Don't let the details you write limit your reader's imagination. Your descriptions should be open-ended enough to evoke images in your reader's mind. However, it is also your job to direct the reader's interpretation by furnishing broad impressions--don't assume your reader will draw "obvious" conclusions from the details.Don't write, "The woman had golden-blond hair with streaks of brown down the middle of her scalp. It was so thick it trailed down her shoulders all the way to her hips, ending in thin wisps that suggested she had not trimmed it for years. As she talked, her hands kept brushing the locks out of the way, and George wondered if the curls close to her scalp were natural or from a perm." Instead, write, "The woman was gorgeous. Her golden hair fell well short of Marilyn Monroe's, drifting long and untended down her back, but what, George thought, gazing stupidly, were a few split ends in a face like that?"Note how the second description, while less detailed, is more evocative.

5. Vary your sentence structure so that the descriptive details are included in the action. Writing, "It was green, slick and spiny. It had seven spindly arms and three stumpy legs. It looked like a sea urchin magnified ten times," will only bore your reader. Try, "Green, slick and spiny, the seven-armed thing crawled toward Eunice on its three stumpy legs. A sea urchin? No, she thought, edging backward. No sea urchin, however big, was that repulsive."

6. Avoid purple prose, or overly flowery and descriptive language. There's nothing wrong with eloquent or lengthy descriptions. But avoid abusing adjectives and adverbs in writing your descriptions. Don't write, "Disgustingly slimy, the horrendously bloated creature left an icky, brown, muddy trail as it sinuously slithered through the wet, mushy swamp ground, its engorged body dappled with shadowy shapes cast eerily from the immense, broadly overhanging canopy of jungle trees."Instead, write, "Eunice watched in sick fascination as the creature slithered through the swamp ground, the canopy above dappling its bloated body in shadows, lending it, she saw with a gulp, the camouflage it needed to stalk its prey."Note how the second description is not only shorter, but more fun to read, while also advancing the story.

7. Use description to characterize. Description can characterize both the person described and the person viewing. For example, "Eunice leaped backward, shrieking, as the vile creature lunged for her, its mud-covered abdomen smearing her dress so badly she just knew George would call off the wedding the moment he saw her. Suddenly enraged, she grabbed one of those nasty, spindly arms and lifted Mr. Slimeball right off its moldy green legs."

Tips & Warnings

• Don't bore your reader when you write description. Description in fiction is not an exhaustive catalog of every trait. It is a selection of what stands out.