Description and Direction #199

Describing and Direction

Wordy and Redundant = Boring!

When you write the first draft, you’re writing the story. You’re on a roll and you can see the story as clearly as watching a movie in your mind. You know what you see and to make sure the readers see it too, you describe, and then you describe some more.

You show how the color of the yellow rose bushes match the yellow color of the dress she’s wearing. Then, to be sure the reader will understand - you add extra words to explain yourselves. “The yellow was as bright as a field of yellow daisy's on a warm, sunshiny day.” It's okay to write all this to capture the story while it is in your mind.

During revision, delete it.

Many readers will skip descriptive passages because they find them dull and they interrupt the flow of the text. Don’t beat yourself up over getting all the details across - that’s what the reader’s imagination is for.

Consider your reader as your equal. Not someone who is slow to understand and needs to be carefully led, shown everything and generally talked down to.

It’s perfectly okay to leave out obvious - and therefore redundant - details. You don’t always have to explain exactly who said what, what happened where, why and how long. Too many new writers clog up their stories with unnecessary backstory, linking scenes, justifying the plot and long complicated explanations of things the reader already regards as clear.

If you write with intelligence, your reader knows what and who you mean - when you over explain, you insult the reader. Not a good idea.

Direction
Often, writing suffers because the reader doesn’t know where you’re going. They wonder why you’re focusing on certain characters and details - especially when you haven’t first hinted at the ‘point’ of your story. If you introduce Aunt Mae by showing the readers her wide-brimmed hat covered with plastic flowers, she better show up again.

When you open a piece, you need a big sign that tells the reader you’re going this way - so the reader knows what to expect along the way. Define your objectives - your purpose - in some way on the first page. For instance, if you’re writing about a flight to Mars, don’t spend the first chapter describing the view of Earth! For one thing, most of your readers have already seen the view on television, and know what it looks like. They want to see Mars!