Descriptive Writing

Descriptive writing can be really hard to get right. It’s very easy to make it sound clichéd or over the top or, sometimes, just too long and boring. I also find it can be easy to forget to describe things altogether if it doesn’t seem relevant to the story.

I have learnt, more recently than I would like to admit, how important descriptive writing is. You’re taught in primary school that it’s important to ‘set the scene’ with descriptive writing. But then you grow up, you develop your own writing style and you start to recognise that a lot of the things you were taught about story telling in primary school probably aren’t that helpful. However, setting the scene with description is one lesson we shouldn’t forget.

Description doesn’t need to be overly detailed. You don’t need to describe everything in the room. But just describing a few key details really can set the scene and mood of the piece of writing. Describing your character’s surroundings helps the reader know where they are in the world and what time period they’re in without you having to tell them. Say your character is sitting in a 19^th century pub. Describe a couple of the customers and what they’re wearing and maybe even what the tables look like and you’ve set the scene nicely without boring the reader with too many details. And without having to say ‘this story is set in 19^th century London’.

The best piece of advice I’ve been given about descriptive writing is to be specific. I think I covered this in my How To Avoid Cliches blog post, but general descriptions tend to sound very clichéd. Saying that it’s a wet and grey day isn’t as effective as describing exactly what the rain drops look like when they hit the puddles. Or what kind of car it is that is driving past with its windscreen wipers going at full speed. If it helps, look up photos on Google images to help you be as specific as you can.

Using specific brand names and titles helps as well. If your character has a drink, say whether it’s a Coke or a Sprite. If your character is looking out of the window at an overgrown garden, describe what flowers and what plants are overgrown. Are there dead tulips in the flower pots? Are the petunias wilting? (I don’t know anything about gardening, I’m sure there are better examples). If your character drapes a coat over a chair, describe what kind of chair it is. A Lloyd loom chair? An oak dining chair?

Being as specific as you can be not only helps you avoid writing clichéd descriptions, but it also really helps your reader build up a picture in their head of the scene that your character is in. And never forget to describe at least a few key details of the scene otherwise your readers might feel a little lost.

Thanks for reading.