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About Writing
Can You Describe Him To Me?
Besides grammar, I think my biggest weakness as a writer is descriptive writing. I rely far too much on the reader’s imagination to fill in what I leave out. I want to focus on the story and often avoid describing the setting.
Perhaps it is because whenever I read long descriptions of characters or scenes, my mind glazes over, and I can’t envision what they are describing.
Say, “A short old man with rumpled clothes,” and I can envision that. Do a five-paragraph detailed description of his physical size, posture, clothes, wrinkles, age spots, hairstyle, cologne, apartment, daily schedule, lunch bag contents, bird feeding habits, etc. And I have no idea what he looks like when you are done. If I am still reading or awake.
Sometimes, my lack of focus is because the description is just too long and tedious. I don’t care what color his suit jacket buttons are. Nor do I want a cooking lesson on every item Detective Joe eats for breakfast before starting his crime detection.
But not always. It can be a beautifully written description of the sight, sounds, and smells the character is experiencing, but my brain is going, “Warning, Will Robinson! Danger! Danger!” I have a hard time focusing on what is written.
