《How to Write Stories People Will Love》13. Tailor Your Descriptions
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How much description is enough? How much is too much? It's a balance we must find for ourselves. This is hard because there isn't one correct answer.
Generally speaking, Fantasy and Science Fiction will both have more description than Contemporary, because the fantastical and sciency elements need to be explained for the story to make sense. Contemporary will have fewer because you can say "car" or "gun" and people will automatically know what those are like.
One of the things I'm sometimes guilty of is "the white room". The reader reads about a character entering someplace for the first time and things start happening or people are talking, and nothing is said about what the place actually looks like. The reader wants to picture what's going on in their minds, but because there's so little description, the action pretty much takes place in a blank box.
The opposite problem is when a writer spends way too much time describing the settings. They go into great detail about the wallpaper patterns and what pieces of furniture are there, how many photographs, what kind of light fixtures, the type of carpet. It's too much. People don't care about all that.
I've also read character descriptions that spend too much time on physical attributes. They'll talk about specific height and the freckles and the nose and the hair color and hair length and the eyelashes and the eye color and how there are little flecks of green in them and how it plays in the light. Some of that may be great, but all of that together is too much.
Here's a rule of thumb I've started telling myself: Give two to three details about the room, person, or object, and then move on. There are always exceptions, of course. But this is just a general guideline.
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Let's take the above example of the over-description of the person. Pick two or three things that immediately stand out. When you first meet someone, you don't notice everything at once (unless you're Sherlock Holmes). A couple of features will always stand out. Maybe someone's nose is too big and their hair is messy. Or maybe their eyes are so mesmerizing that nothing else gets noticed. In which case, you can go ahead and describe the flecks of green that play in the light. A reader only needs a few details to conjure an image, then they need to get back into the plot before it gets boring.
If you're having trouble figuring out which details to write about a setting, try this: Walk into a room, and give yourself two seconds to absorb it. I don't mean examine the room. I mean, just walk in and pay attention to what catches your eye first. Any more than two seconds, and you're studying. We want first impressions.
When people walk into my office, they usually remark first about all the plants. The second thing they probably notice is the clutter, but they're always too polite to say so. Two things, and now you have a decent idea of what my office is like, as well as a couple clues to my personality.
Now let's walk outside. What do I notice first? Maybe the air is fresh with a hint of rain, or maybe the neighborhood is full of dilapidated fences, or maybe the streets are thick with traffic. Pick the most relevant details. If the character loves rain, then the description about the air is relevant. If someone is about to get hit by a car, then the traffic is relevant. If the character being poor is important, then the dilapidated fences are relevant.
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Keep in mind also the types of things your character will notice. I have friends who immediately notice when someone gets their nails done. I, the other hand, am lucky if I notice someone's haircut days later. Keep the details in character, and they'll add to your story instead of detract from it.
There are tons of details everywhere we go, but the ones we pick for our stories need to be significant. Each sentence needs to build the story, not simply pad it.
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Torn Asunder
Demons and devils are only myths... until they're not. An outcast detective, criticized for his crazy ideas, stumbles upon a case that could prove his wild theories true. Mysteries abound as a disturbed man struggles with his inner demons, wreaking havoc upon the physical world. Both hold pieces of an ancient puzzle that could plunge the world spiraling into chaos. Will their paths lead to salvation? Or will it tear the world asunder?
8 208Ph. D. In Sorcery
Follow Anastasia, the unlucky physicist turned wizard, as her reality gets turned upside down and she is plunged into a world of gods, magic, swords, and adventure. Short and sweet description, anything more would be a spoiler and I detest those. Now, what you can expect from reading: This is my first time writing, or better said allowing someone else to read that mess so don’t raise your expectations too much. Still, I will try to keep the story flowing, while also devoting as much time as I can to editing. In my opinion, the story is written at a faster pace than normal with time skips here and there. I will do my best to not allow the faster pace to ruin the story by using those time skips to raise the skill of the main character. I am mainly looking for feedback while I test myself in new and unexplored waters. I did put a lot of thought into worldbuilding and the magic system, it is something that has been mulling inside my head for years before I sat down to write anything down. First and foremost I am an engineer and not a writer. I will try to do my utmost to make the world logical and consistent, but sometimes I might not express that in a way that’s clearly understood. I have a rough outline with several possible endings, but the story will change and evolve as I do. But in case I have to stop for whatever reason, the story will get an ending. It will be done even if I have to send coded messages from a bunker. I am a big fan of the Dresden Files so you can be certain that everything mentioned will in most cases be used, with a few red herrings sprinkled in the mix. But that also means I will enjoy putting the main character through the meat grinder while I eat popcorn and laugh from my evil lair. Physics, and to be more precise electromagnetism, quantum field theory, general and special relativity are very interesting topics for me that I research in my spare time. That means that the premise of the story will be using that research to bring logic to magic. Stupid I know, magic is magic, but to me, there is no reason why there shouldn’t be a concrete set of rules there. But it is still magic and that allows me to play with some things that shouldn’t normally be possible. I will focus on evolving the main character and having her react as anyone normal would, from my perspective. There will be scenes of battle, gore, and sexy times, but I will not go into too many details, counting on your imagination to fill the gaps. There will be plenty of combat, even battles ranging from a few dozen, a hundred, and thousands of participants. I could go on but there isn’t much to say that would convince anyone to read, either you thought the title was cool or you liked the poster. Or not, but after several days in photoshop, that’s the best I could do. And the title was originally Sorceress with a Ph.D. The new one makes a little less sense but I like the ring of it more for some reason. I just hope someone enjoys what I write as much as I do. In the end that is the reason, I am doing this, because I enjoy putting my thoughts on paper and seeing the outcome. Credit for the art: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/e0o8nw
8 256Saga of the Storm Wizard
Rose Cooper had always been told she has a lot of potential as a wizard cadet. Too much, in fact; her weather magic frequently ran wild when her emotions got the better of her. That was why the mission to uncover a lost magical artifact in the Spratly Islands was perfect for her. They were no man's land, abandoned by both the demonic Grim Horde and the human Anti-Demonic League. All Rose would have to do to do was keep the weather under control. All of that talk of the Spratly Curse was just superstition and nonsense spread by bored sailors. If only. Evil wore many masks, as Rose was about to discover. Warning: This story contains elements that some readers may find disturbing, and minor language. Think of it as a PG-13 rating. This series is a spinoff of the Confessions of the Magpie Wizard series. As such, it contains spoilers for the main series. I have attempted to write it so that you could start here without reading the original story. You can also check it out here: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/27872/confessions-of-the-magpie-wizard/ Cover art by Yoghurt Stripper: https://www.instagram.com/yoghurtstripper/
8 117Bright Battle Story: Tactics Heart
This is Bright Battle Academy. It is not a place where your hand will be held or your failings compensated for. It is not a place for the weak, or the subversive, or the conspicuously diverse. This is Bright Battle Academy, where champions are forged and legends begin. Dwarfs? Once they were part of the great alliance. They helped build this very academy. But they were so stubborn, so unyielding, so unwilling to bend themselves to the rules. And so they weakened, and so they declined, and so their empires faded. What few that are left shun the academy. We have no dwarfs here. Rogues? Perhaps a handful in the sprawl, hiding in the shadows, hoarding their merits, hoping to buy a promotion to something remotely useful, ninja or assassin perhaps. But in the academy proper? No. We have no rogues here. And yet despite everything here she stands. Nala Greyward, Dwarf Rogue. Pettiest of thieves. Unpleasantest of surprises. Causer of problems. So she killed an ogre. So nobody knows how she did it. So what. Throw her in with the real prospects, with the elves and the vampires and the fighters and the magic users. See how she does in that environment--see just how long it is, before the problem that is Nala Greyward solves itself. This is Bright Battle Academy. Good luck. Discord if you're into that.
8 176VOID REQUIEM
Void Requiem follows the story of Ken Kawasaki, an enthusiastic young human who aspires to become the freest man alive. In a universe filled with mystical supernatural powers and beings, he finds himself to be an ordinary mere human. That is until his soul accidentally bonds with one of the most sacred pieces of an ancient power; The Emerald. With significant power also comes a substantial burden as a mysterious requiem echoes throughout his mind, torturing him mentally and driving the need to find an answer to his misery. Despite the drawback, he isn't one to step back from his path thanks to his determined personality as he moves on to achieve his dream. Somewhere along the way, he finds uncanny friendships, allies, and much more. With each of his friends having a goal of their own, as they travel together throughout the universe trying to fulfill their own dreams and solve the mystery of this Void requiem! [participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge]
8 125mijin x joonyeong & nayeon x gwinam!
Mijin x Joonyeong one shots & also nayeon x Gwinam one shots aka the underrated ships :)This is cringe so don't read.
8 125