Description. There’s an art to it. Writers miss it when they fumble the juggle between showing and telling, and there’s nothing worse than an overeager wordsmith slathering on words like blobs of paint to make for a Pollockian tapestry.
Description doesn’t quite work that way. You’re telling a story. Don’t forget that part.
That’s why we’re Writing All Wrong.
Could you give me a few pointers on my descriptive paragraph?
“Caked mud gripped the desolate path. The faceless sky breathed a white empty fire. Nocturnal whispers retreated from the land like reverse rays of beaming sun. Rocks rose with purple resilience amid the bleak soil. Lonely black trees danced solitary in a faint breeze. A weary shadow heralded the traveler’s coming.”
—Caleb Hilton, Bothell, WA
I’ll give you one pointer: start over.
This isn’t describing anything. These are wasted words slapping into dull thuds, lacking any sort of verve in sentence structure. You’ve colored with shimmering paints, muddying the canvas with unclear blobs and no definition.
Description isn’t how many fancy words you string together, or how many words you can check off from your “Thesaurus Rex of Awesome.”
I’d only keep the last sentence, if that. Tell your story first. Make something move. Draw those lines, color within them as you go.
Description without meaning is an empty art. When things “move,” your reader will fill in the gaps, letting you interject to fill in the rest. I can look at an Epic Fantasy Picture Book if I want scenery. But you’re a writer. Give me a story worth describing. We’ll get there.
Writing All Wrong can be reached via email (WritingAllWrong@me.com) and followed on Twitter (@WritingAllWrong).
The Life Autistic 