Tips For Writing Better Descriptive Prose

By Author: Jonathan Veale
Total Articles: 8
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Fiction writing is an acquired talent; one that even born storytellers have to work at. And the first lesson to learn is that descriptive prose needs to be kept in check if you want to write and publish a book successfully. There are right and wrong places for it to flourish.

In a court, witnesses on the stand are frequently asked to describe something, or some person. Now this is the place to demonstrate one’s talent for description: ‘he reached with his left arm to a green ceramic jug which was just out of reach, on one of three, roughly-hewn oak shelves built into the corner, to the right of the window, in the poorly-lit ground-floor library’.

Not much room for doubt. The judge and jury now know who pointed, and how; they know the container was a jug, green in colour, and ceramic; that it was placed high up on one of three shelves, made of roughly hewn oak, and that these shelves were in one corner, to the right of the window, on the ground floor of a poorly-lit room that acted as, or was known as, the library. Good grief! My brain aches writing this, and if you are a reader, your brain, too, has to work ...
... hard to take this in. The description places so many demands on the reader that pace and flow are hampered if not crushed. And that’s not good for storytelling.

Book editing services will help you understand where to demonstrate your descriptive gifts, and where to resist the temptation. And the one place to desist is in the opening pages of your fiction. New writers especially find this advice hard to take. But take it they must, if they want to get published, because over-writing, with too many adjectives and adverbs, clobbers pace and distracts the reader from the core plot that should be introduced and hooking their interest from the opening lines.

To return to our witness in the court. If your plot starts with a criminal taking the key out of a jug before opening a safe – get on with it. ‘Taking a key from a jug high up on a corner shelf, Rasputin opened the safe and withdrew the pistol.’ Done and dusted! Who cares, needs to know, anything more, for the moment? Less description, more action. Publishers don’t pay by the word. It’s the quality that counts.

Descriptive prose is important, in the right place, and when used for scene-setting, can be a powerful weapon in a writer’s armoury. But once again, it’s not wise to spend time describing the pattern on the wallpaper until the interest of your readers has been caught.

But do leave something to the imagination. Then your readers can be creative, too. If, for example, you describe a jug as green, a door as red, an armchair as comfortable and a curtain as pleated, does any of this information really contribute to your plot’s progress. If not, let the reader colour things in. They are often good at it, and might indeed prefer their way of looking at things. Stick to the knitting. Ensure your story is a rattling good yarn.

Writeaway provides help and advice on how to write and publish a book. You will also have access to a dedicated team of people who can provide a comprehensive book editing service having had personal experience of the book publishing process.