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Description
I was wondering if anyone struggles a bit with description in their writing. I am writing my first draft for my novel and I think I will complete it by Christmas, maybe earlier - hurrah! But I am finding that if I needed to describe a character's house (one where the protagonist is in for instance), I am writing this: (DESCRIBE INTERIOR OF HOUSE). So that I can fill those bits in later. I think I will try and use some of the senses and be in the POV character too, when I go back to those sections. Just wondering how everyone else deals with this side of writing. Do you find it easy to describe?
Comments
I think you're definitely in the right area here, Helen, so that there doesn't appear to be any interruption in the VP character's story.
The picture that mum painted and little Johnny spilt his cornflakes on.
The threadbare carpet on the stairs and how you remember when dad first fitted it, with those little brass anchors on the sides.
The smudge on the kitchen wall where the tin of beans exploded that your brother was trying to heat up for you without having opened it.
The way the sun pours through the front room window, causing a strip of bright light to cross the carpet, making an ideal runway for your model planes.
I build in smell and taste as well.
Does anyone else have that experience of tasting something that reminds you of a certain smell, or vice-versa?
Gully's examples are great; they show how to think outside the box of cliched 'description'.
I also like to use similies and metaphors to paint a visual picture, e.g. mountains capped with snow like crumpled bed linen - instead of just 'snow-capped mountains'.
And - yes - definitely use all the senses to describe a scene.
Thanks Lou Treleaven, that's a good idea. I will bear that in mind.
Thanks again, everyone. :-)
Maybe I understand the meaning of a First draft differently and you are really talking more about an outline/skeleton in which case your method is fine.
For me a first draft is a full working novel with dialogue, story and descriptions, plus many other factors.
People always say there 'are no rules' FT, but im not convinced by that argument. There are rules that make life easier for a writer and there are rules that make it very difficult- which will result in many wasted months and years.
It is the approach/method. And writers are lazy in many different ways and I include my self in that. And how do you know my comments were not helpful?
If Helen disagrees fine, I accept it.
Writing is an art form. There are no right or wrong ways of working, it is up to each individual writer to find their own way.
With Judas' book he asked for only one or two pieces of description he felt the reader would need. I am very aware that when we get to Jacquetta Woodville, the list will be quite long as I know there are sections he will want more. So, I too tend to channel the 'storyline', the life, straight into the computer and then when it has been assessed by someone else, my exceptional editor, go over it again and add the 'missing bits'. It makes no difference to the final product provided it is seamless and I am told it is.
Sometimes the need to get the story told is more important than stopping to fill in the detail. Sometimes I see this before the book goes anywhere - I stopped the current author in his tracks yesterday and told him that
'I came out of the war period with a chest full of medals'
was not really enough and I would want a bit more than that, even if this book is entirely feelings rather than facts ...
Helen, work the way which suits YOU. Otherwise you could lose the flow of the story. But, don't make a big thing out of needing to describe and giving your reader half a page, slide it in through the words and actions, as you said, so it doesn't feel or read like padding, but is natural.
Vijay was simply expressing his views and Helen understood that; there was really no need for anyone to try to pick a fight with him.
Helen wish you all the best with your book!
FT- i can see what you are saying and many people say it but...
I just don't agree with there is no right or wrong way of working- when it comes to writing/art.
In every other field of life, THERE is a right and wrong way of doing a job! Just because we become 'artists' doesn't excuse this. And too many aspiring writers lose way too much time, whats that big word- procrastinating! or waiting for inspiration when all they have to do is get their butt down on a chair and keep it there like any other proper job. I am convinced they'll produce more this way than waiting around for the creative muse.
thanks Claudia.
Now, if we were to take me as an example to that statement, I'd have to disagree. I could write right now. But I can't because there is nothing in me to write. I have just spent two months writing over 30,000 words on various projects, mostly my two novels. Now I need to wait again until that inspiration hits me again.
[quote=Vijay]I am convinced they'll produce more this way than waiting around for the creative muse.[/quote]
Again, I'd have to disagree. Writing should never be forced out of you. It just doesn't work like that. I'm currently reading at the moment, which is a rare thing in itself, because I cannot write, for the said reason above. If I was to try and write some more of my novel, I might be able to do it, but not for long. Certainly not until I've punched out 3,000 words. I NEED to wait for that creative muse before I can do anything as I write in spurts. It's a Gemini thing.
I do agree with FT, and with writing, there is no right or wrong way. It isn't maths! We work how we all work, and whether we get the final product out fast or not doesn't matter either. So long as you're happy in the way you fulfill your writing career then that's all that matters. For me anyway.
As for writing description, it takes me several attempts to get it right in a short story. So for my novel, it will probably take twice as long, because I simply cannot write everything in one go. I'm 16, not a genius. But I don't leave (Add descriptions here) because for me that is messy. You either write it now or not for me. But then again, I don't work to time limits. Because if I did, I would most probably fail them. Deadlines are for essays and assignments, not for my creative writing.
Now, this is one of my longest posts, so it probably doesn't make a lot of sense, so I apologise for that.
You're moving the goalposts, Vijay. This thread isn't about procrastination, it's about description. But since you bring it up,
I agree with you that writers should have the discipline to keep writing. As for what they write and when they write it, we are not machines. Much of our best work comes from unconscious levels which will not be forced. So, is it not better to move onto the next part of the story and keep the momentum? It is better to write something - anything - rather than stare at a screen trying to write a passage of description when the heart isn't in it.
And, I never push an author, either. They write or they don't. That's why his book took four years and so did Charles Stuart's book, while I wrote with others who could communicate at a much faster rate.
Here are some of the wrong ways of working in your writing life.
-Don't read good writers.
-Don't write regularly.
-Thrown in as many adjectives as you can.
-Forget spelling and grammar.
-Don't worry about plot or character.
-When writing to agents, bore them with long inquiry letters and boring first chapters.
-Ignore all the great writers who have given valueable advice on how to get published.
There is no right or wrong way of working is not a lie, it is a statement of fact. The 'ways not to write' you mention don't include whether or not to write description as you go or write later, does it??? There is no right or wrong way, every writer works in their own way at their own pace and, if they don't write, they don't sell. Simple, is it not? We all know that!
Dorothy is right, and I'm sure most writers will agree, there is no fundemental write or wrong about how you write. It's WHAT is written that matters. It doesn't matter whether you start at the end, the middle or the beginning, or whether it's first person or third person POV, whether you add MORE HERE or MORE THERE across the MS in big red letters and write descriptions afterward, it doesn't matter if it takes you five minutes to write or 10 years, it's the end result which is key, and we all arrive at this same point, in our own way.
And I agree.
i might comment on your other thread, not sure the editor has given you the best advice with your writing. i will read it again.
15. A common error would-be writers make is to hang back and wait for inspiration to strike. But writing is nine-tenths perspiration. The fact is, inspiration is most likely to tap you on the shoulder when you are actively involved in the writing process.
Hope that helps.
But; I am always in the active writing process. My mind never shuts up. But I'm not writing all the time because I cannot physically do it. I can't write or get inspiration when I my brain says: no, no more.
Nope. You can't write if you aint inspired in the first place, therfore you can't expel that perspiration, can you? Inspiration can come when you're writing, yes, but getting to that point in the first place brings us back to inspiration/motivation (or lack) of and how the process evolves.
Yes you need the initial idea/inspiration for your novel obviously but if you don't write regularly you wont get much done.
If you wait around to be just inspired and write in small spurts my guess is that you'll take a very long time to finish a book. If you want to work that way, fine.
But working in a very slow method increases the chances of disillusionment with your novel.and all the other negative doubts.
If I want to take my time to write in spurts I will. But I can't force myself to write when my brain seizes up and goes NO in very big letters. I simply do not work like that, and I refuse to be told to work in a certain way. I don't really care if a book tells me this or that. They're not doing the writing, are they? I am doing the writing, and at the moment, I'm doing the writing for ME. To see if I can reach the end of the first draft with a novel count of over 70,000. How long it takes to get there really doesn't bother me.
Also, can I just ask, what do you succeed in writing a novel in a short amount of time anyway? Baffles me.
Writing a novel is a huge and very personal endeavour so it seems to me there are as many different approaches to it as there are authors under the sun. That is what I meant be 'no right or wrong way'. It doesn't matter if I get to my destination by car, bus or pogo stick, just so long as I get there.
Helen's original question has been answered and thanks were issued.
We should leave it at that.
There is absolutely no reason WHATSOEVER for anyone to get heated up about how anyone works.
(Unless you are a publisher and your author is not delivering the goods in time for a million-dollar deadline.)
Please, writer's, let us drop this subject.
As for description, I wouldn't describe a whole house or room, just pick out a few important details. Once you've written the first draft you'll have a better idea of which details are important.