The Secret Sauce To Writing Descriptions
- Livvy Skelton-Price
- Jun 16
- 2 min read
Writing descriptions can make the best of us stumble. We want to tell the reader everything, but actually, we want to show them and tell them nothing. How do you show someone words on a page?
I love writing descriptions. Here's my secret sauce you can use on your creations, too:
Be the Character.
Get inside the head of your character. Imagine exactly what it would be like to be them. With all their insecurities, skills, wants, and needs. And then have them be in the situation you've placed them in. What would you do in that case? What pops in your head? What do you think about?
Do you start thinking about the birds chirping? Or your heart racing? Or where the antagonist standing? Or what will people think of you?
Where does your mind go? Describe that in detail. Sometimes descriptions are less about what's on around the character and more about what's going on inside the character.
Focus on Internal Conflict.
This tip does depend on which genre you're writing, but no genre should be completely without internal conflict.
These would be insecurities the character is fighting to push past, the pain and guilt they feel for a choice they made, the fear they feel.
All the things we humans go through but don't often talk about. We want that to shine through in your characters.
See the Setting as a Character.
Write the setting as a character. The gloom and fog are sadness or fear. The towering buildings invoke fear. The bright sunshine can burn down on skill or be a ray of hope in the darkness.
Inanimate objects have feelings too - at least in stories.
Highlight Sensory Details.
This is the most important tip I can give you. Think about what you notice as you walk into different situations. While you're writing, do you notice how hungry you are? The weird smell at the neighbours house? Probably not. You're concentrating.
If you were at your neighbours house with the weird smell, would you be panicking to try to get rid of it, or would you be meditating to focus on something else?
When you're on a walk, do you notice your surroundings? Are you stuck in your thoughts? Are you looking at every single fence colour? Or are you thinking about how your legs hurt?
Write your characters authentically. This will make your descriptions pop and create relatable characters.
Experiment with Perspectives.
Similar to the one above. When you are different characters - especially in different situations, you'll notice different things. Different aspects of the world will take priority. And what do you do with that knowledge? Or annoyance? Or good news?
This is up to you, the author.
What are your tips for writing descriptions? Do you agree with the tips above?
My book, What’s Left: https://a.co/d/04vfTz1o
Website: https://www.livvyskeltonprice.com/
Medium: https://medium.com/@livvyskelton
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