Writing Descriptions

Descriptions are underrated. I mean, it used to be you could get away with writing pages of description, but today's books need to be fast-paced and action-packed. There doesn't seem to be any room for description.

One problem we face in today's world is that we don't sense things any more. We're so busy multi-tasking and getting to the next thing on our list to even notice the sounds and smells around us. I hadn't given this much thought until I read Paying Attention by Shutting It Off by Cambria Dillon.

How do you write description without it boring your readers to death? Make it part of the story. Theresa at Edittorrent shows Julia London's brilliant example in the post Setting by Example.

And of course, no post on description would be complete without mentioning Bookshelf Muse--my favorite free online writing resource. Angela Ackerman has yet another post worth reading: The Writer's Bane: Describing a Character's Physical Appearance. She tackles a big problem and uses examples to illustrate a much more interesting way to describe your characters.