Writers have an advantage over movie directors. While a camera’s lens can pick up dozens of details framed within a scene, the written word has the power to laser the reader’s focus on a precise object or the subtle nuance of a character’s behavior.
Vibrant, clear description is the first step to accessing the “reader’s eye”, that fully-realized state of total immersion in a story. The best descriptions consist of a few carefully chosen details that rise to the forefront of a scene as a representation of everything else. Descriptions should:
1. carry significance to the character or plot
2. contribute to the overall tone of the story
3. create a zone of authority—an imaginary contract of trust with the author where readers are eager to suspend disbelief though specific, accurate details
Description also allows the writer to control a story’s timing. Details bring a sense of importance to a scene. Major turning points, moments of emotional character growth or heightened conflict all benefit from the tension brought on by good description. Asking the reader to wait engages them on a far deeper level, provided the writer is able to walk the thin line between building suspense and tempting the reader to skip ahead.
Description and Character
Unless physical characteristics are vital to plot or characterization, descriptions of main characters should begin in the writer’s imagination, but finish in the reader’s. Some readers imagine themselves in the hero’s role, a magical connection to the story at risk when the writer repeatedly refers to physical characteristics completely different from those of the reader. Over-described protagonists freeze out the reader’s version. If the reader isn’t able to bring her experiences and ideals to the page, the main character remains at an emotional distance.
Vibrant, clear description is the first step to accessing the “reader’s eye”, that fully-realized state of total immersion in a story. The best descriptions consist of a few carefully chosen details that rise to the forefront of a scene as a representation of everything else. Descriptions should:
1. carry significance to the character or plot
2. contribute to the overall tone of the story
3. create a zone of authority—an imaginary contract of trust with the author where readers are eager to suspend disbelief though specific, accurate details
Description also allows the writer to control a story’s timing. Details bring a sense of importance to a scene. Major turning points, moments of emotional character growth or heightened conflict all benefit from the tension brought on by good description. Asking the reader to wait engages them on a far deeper level, provided the writer is able to walk the thin line between building suspense and tempting the reader to skip ahead.
Description and Character
Unless physical characteristics are vital to plot or characterization, descriptions of main characters should begin in the writer’s imagination, but finish in the reader’s. Some readers imagine themselves in the hero’s role, a magical connection to the story at risk when the writer repeatedly refers to physical characteristics completely different from those of the reader. Over-described protagonists freeze out the reader’s version. If the reader isn’t able to bring her experiences and ideals to the page, the main character remains at an emotional distance.
Minor characters, however, can benefit from more precise description. Writers don’t always have the story space to allow minor characters to become fully developed. Readers sorting through re-emerging periphery characters look for patterns of identifiable traits and behaviors. Descriptions of these characters are often more extreme and memorable because they’re not bound by the same codes of character the writer has established for the hero.
A character’s description should be in close proximity to his first introduction. A writer who delays physical details about a character risks tossing the reader out of the story world when he stumbles upon a description that reads nothing like what he envisioned for that character.
For more on how description translates into powerful imagery and practical tips on how to infuse your writing with sensory depth, read the rest of the article on my website.
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How do you approach description?
1 comment:
I love the idea that the description should be the readers. It allows us, as readers, to really become part of the book, to toally dispell disbelief and take the ride.
Thanks for the insight.
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