Hi there, viewers! You can read a text version of this video on Medium: quotidianwriter.medium.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-writing-engaging-descriptions-in-fiction-91cefb2b4477
You're doing God's work here, Diane. I'm always greatful for your videos and learn so much at the right times. I struggle with descriptions, not from a language, content, context, pacing, syntax, perspective (1st, 2nd, 3rd+), worldbuilding, character work/desciption aspect or anything else in terms of what's specifically on the page as I'm learned in/cognizant of most skills relevant to me and my style/method in that regard. I struggle primarily with the intuition of the matter. I've written in many different writing mediums, but especially poetry, screenwriting, and prose (short stories/novels). I've realized I've amalgamated those three disciplines into one prose style. I truly enjoy it. But sometimes people reflect to me that they somewhat felt they were reading a script. I'm not at all light on descriptions throughout my works. There are many instances where I go in great depth into my worlds, but I believe there are other instances, almost explicitly around dialogue, where I throw myself into the course of the discourse and ease off of the work of continuing to set the scene. These things I typically pick up during revisions. But it can become a tedious affair, and I realize that not having this part of my sense engaged in earlier drafts can throw me off on later drafts, and I wonder then if I've overdone a scene. Become unnecessarily embroiled in cushioning the narrative with tangible and evocative sensory details for the scene's setting, character perspectives, plot details, etc. So the intuition I feel I'm missing is a sense of balance, proper placement, completedness, a sense of having hit the right depth & distribution while exercising a peering into the perception of an audience member to see the bigger picture of what I'm writing, and whether or not the breadth of the work is clearly intepreted and consistent. I hope that makes sense. (I also realize, if there's anything about descriptions I'm especially desiring to learn, it's subtext, which I see as a more holistic elevation of description that ties into dialogue, plot, and everything else. I often have trouble seeing it. I usually benefit from others alighting me to it in a book, show, or film. But I have trouble acknowledging subtext with my own initiative and within my own mind. Especially to see an analytical thought I'm having about a story and recognize, "Oh! That's subtext!" and learn to distill it from the other details, thematic aspects, and narrative categories of a given piece.)
@@DarrenWilsonOne Thank you so much for your kind words! That sense of balance is difficult to achieve, and I think what feels right differs for every writer (and reader). I've faced a similar problem as you have, where I feel like I provide ample descriptions and visuals, yet certain readers ask for more details and character movements. Part of that might stem from the fact that my brain works best in abstract, internal environments, and I prefer those types of descriptions as a reader (e.g., character studies, introspection). Although I have an interest in art, I wouldn't call myself a spatial person, as I don't visualize how people and objects are oriented as much as other readers might; it's more about the tone and feel of the words, even, rather than a mental movie. My writing tends to reflect my own readerly preferences, I suppose, but I also want to appeal to readers who aren't like me. As someone else commented on this video, it helps to have literary mentors to turn toward on your bookshelf, where you have descriptive passages on hand that really sing to you. I try to follow that gut feeling ("I like this") and figure out the why and how ("What tools did the author use to achieve this? What am I doing or not doing in my writing?"). I also believe the struggle you've outlined is common among artists. In all the author and artist bios I've consumed, there's this constant sense of striving, accompanied by frustration at being uncertain about what will make a work feel complete. Maybe that uncertainty is something we can never fully overcome, even as we develop certain aspects of our intuition. Writers will always doubt their own creative choices, but in the end, we can only trust what feels true to ourselves in the moment.
Thank you so much for all the effort you put into your wonderful videos. The text version is also great. It's definitely worth saving for reference when writing.
Can I just take a moment to say how genuinely beautiful each of these videos are? Gentle, warm colors, thoughtful, yet parsimonious use if words, and subtle but uplifting "you can do this." I never miss an upload! PS, having done some music publication and voiceover work professionally, you absolutely could record if you wanted.
Wow, thank you so much for your kind words! I truly appreciate your comment, and I aspire to make every video more beautiful than the last. Keep writing!
As a non-native English speaker/"aspiring writer" I'm actually horrified to begin writing because due to me learning English as a second language I don't have the same sense of reliance on it as I do with my native tongue and I'm afraid that my descriptions will be stiff and boring, dialogue unmotivated and awful, characters artificial and one dimensional because of my circumstances. And there's so many advices and tips floating all around the internet that it makes me feel so overwhelmed. It makes me feel as if me even beginning to write is a worthless endeavor most of the time but I still come back to that idea. I still don't know how to deal with that feeling but I want to thank you for being one of the few guiding lights in the abyss of self doubt and fear of writing.
Diane. How? How do you always manage to post about exactly what I’m struggling to write?! You always manage to break down the barriers in my mind and simplify the process in a way that feels manageable, doable. Thank you. Thank you always for posting such incredible content.
My personal favorite thing to do when writing settings is to go out in nature and find a similar setting or element that fits the setting of my story. Then I try to describe it in unique phasing. I do this because often you can be shocked by how many little things you don’t imagine when describing scenes and just by going outside can give you alot of inspiration!
I hope you can release more videos like this. All of your videos in that playlist is so rich in knowledge and content that it takes me two hours to watch your videos since I note everything you are saying 🤣 Please release more content. You and Brandon Sanderson's lectures are my favourite on teaching writing.
Thank you so much for your high praise! It truly means a lot to me. You were here so early that I had the video as unlisted when you commented, haha! Keep writing. :)
Agreed. A lot of pointless rambling, trite lists or fluff on most writing channels. I'd add Ellen Brock, Glenn Gers (Writing for Screens) and Alyssa Matesic. All five channels get right to the good stuff and articulate it so well, while also being encouraging and realistic about the challenges involved.
The best descriptions happen in the moment. Instead of writing, "Men's heads would turn at her approach," couch it in a scene in which this happens. Describe a man whose head turns as she approaches, how his eyes flick to her without conscious effort. The train of her dress swishes along the marble floor of the museum, a susurrus as soft as the wind through the trees but shocking in its beauty, striking in its intensity, and startling in its purity. The sound fills the room as everyone in it holds their breath until she passes them one by one, their attention narrowed to the point in time in which she exists--this, right now, this perfect moment. Millennia move mountains, centuries bury cities, but this moment exists only as long as she allows it, and when she passes, it too crumbles to the machinations of the universe's ticking hands. And then it is gone.
im begging for a vid on multi-pov, specifically 3 or more povs. how to weave multiple inciding incidents, internal conflicts, personal stakes into a cohesive whole.
I've been really struggling with writing description recently...actually, it's probably the hardest thing about writing, at least for me. This video came in at the right time as usual, Diane!
Your writing videos are the only ones I actually enjoy watching and find beneficial! I’ve been rewatching your old videos, and I’m so glad you’ve posted again. Writing descriptions is going to be so much easier to approach now!!
In my dystopian series, Elektra Voltare, the narrating main character acquires the ability to sense electromagnetic fields. She struggles to describe the sense by saying it is like describing color to the blind or music to the deaf. All the world is alive with swirling currents of electricity and all life has its own bio electric signature. That presented a bit of a challenge to describe. In this dystopian future, in order to make the world more accessible to the reader, this main character is raised in the basement of a monastery and educated from encyclopedias published in 1988 (her mutant power absorbs electricity, so she cannot read from electronic devices and the society no longer uses paper). Her out-of-date knowledge allows her to describe the world as she encounters it in terms a reader from our time will understand. For me, description derives from putting yourself in the place of the characters and sensing through their senses. The description follows where the character places her attention.
i personally do not wish to give advice to a more talented artist than myself....so pretententious and rude...but i flirt with disaster in this contention i use a mixology; uuuhh, "conflate"? but if a hair line off it will render the scene confusing...like (taken from my short story novella "The Embrace" second installation novella "Widower" first chapter third paragraph)--- "The short; sharp, shreill, shreik, shattered the glass sleeve of the hurricane kerocene lamp. Sending the rooms only light source into a cacophany of light and shadows. The scared light jumps and twitches into chasing and being chased by shadows and flicker. peering into obscure corners of the room...which peer back.. And as if from some hellish dimension many minor imps and twisted; snarling faces, of demons stand in reverance to behold in awe the abomination of death and resurrection...unholy and unspeakable."---but thats just my style....its difficult if not gramatically impossible😄 good luck i think your story stuff is a great idea 👍🤞
Is it fate, or coincidence, to stumble upon a precious gem while destitute. Either way, I found you when I needed to. As an aspiring write i struggle with this more than I should. Thank you.
As someone who merely reads a lot, these videos are informative in describing what I have noticed other writers do to describe scenes and emotions but could never articulate how. Was most pleased to get another wonderful video from you. Wonderful work as always.
your videos are perfect for me. descriptive, to the point and packed with information. I found you yesterday and I cant even binge watch your videos cause they're so packed with good bits that I'm stuck processing it for hours passed. thank you for the quality videos
Well when I took a creative writing course in college. My professor had me try to describe walking into my room if I was blind. Also a statement from a long lost poetry book I never found again. “Describe a tree, so that it couldn’t possibly be mistaken for any other tree.”
For me, it's what my mind's eye sees, hears, smells, etc. I try to create a scene as immersive as possible, so the description of the space is crucial to me. The point about "how to ask the question" at the beginning of this is an excellent way to look at it - what does the POV character see, hear, smell, etc. That is incredibly helpful! Thanks, Diane!
My approach to writing description - (1) Write the scene based on verbs "VERB! That's what's happening!" to quote Grammar Rock. (2) Listen to RUclips writing lessons on Description to help me construct a better, more dynamic scene. (Big time underwriter, here.) I have to hash over each scene several times to eliminate cliches, awkward phrasing and rabbit trails. Sometimes I write the scene two or three times and save "the good parts" to build the final version of that scene. And I am NOT afraid to throw away anything!
*claps* Thank you for mentioning aphantasia. It makes going along with walls of visual description an immense effort that sometimes ends up not being worth it. On the flipside, I noticed experimenting with descriptions actually helps visualize what I am going for once it is done. Especially after I first heard the tip to write it from another characters perspective. One thing I learn and relearn all the time: While someone might not be able to visualize things, their emotional, aural or sensory imagination might be stronger for it. All the more reason to include all senses in descriptions. I'm partial to aural imagination. Not just environmental sounds. Like, take the time to describe a piece of music, the dynamics with which a pianist hits the keys, whether a piece has colorful chords or bland ones, and some people will be able to hear it. Ofc its also a stylistic and thematic choice to do something like that, but its the kind of thing that would immerse me much more than describing the room the character plays in - even if that description was emotionally charged.
I did actually searched "describe" on the channel some days ago. it's like a sign that i shouldn't postpone the next step of writing fiction. Thanks~ and happy holydays.
I have most if not all of your videos on a writing playlist and am so glad that you've posted something new. Your content is so helpful and easy to digest
Wow, I've literally been watching your videos this past week helping me write, revise and edit my manuscripts. Noticed you post roughly around every couple months and was bummed out -only to see today you posted. Thank you for all your great advice. Quality over quantity in everything. 💜
I owe you my whole soul, you saved me from giving up on writing and lit up that fire for it I always had that was starting to become just brazes. Thank you so much for your work
You really have a way of teaching that actually helps people. A lot of writers will give you tips, but will underexplain them so I do not know how to properly integrate them, and do not really understand why they are useful. People just telling me show don't tell isn't helpful. Why are we doing that? The in depth explanations combined with the good examples really make it useful.
I am thrilled to see a new video by you! Especially one on the longer side. I find your videos not only informative, but very soothing. Perfect for when I want to listen to writing advice, but I don't want to feel overwhelmed by it. Love your content, ty for making it. 🙏
One year later and I am still listening to these videos on a lot of nights when I'm trying to fall asleep, but also want to let my brain absorb something of value. Thank you so much for the effort you put into each of these videos. Your channel is one of my favorite writing channels💕🙏
How I have missed these videos, brilliant as they always are! I approach description through layers. In the first draft I write what I see in my mind, the outline of what happens and where, sprinkling key details as I see them as I go along. Then when I tackle the second and subsequent drafts, I take it sentence-by-sentence, really imagine what I'm seeing or what my characters are feeling. If I'm struggling, I read a piece of fiction from my favourite authors for inspiration (how much detail do they put? what kind of metaphors or language do they choose?) Then I look for all the filter words and mercilessly eliminate them one-by-one, sparing one or two if the description begins to feel too heavy-handed. The danger lies in too much description that can inflate the text, so I try to remove all superfluous action or dialogue or description, leaning it down to fighting weight where every sentence and every word packs a knock-out punch. At least that's the plan. As this is coming out on New Year's Eve eve, here's to the writing we did this year and the stories we will tell on the new year. And remember our mantra, whatever you do, keep writing!
I also like using the environment as metaphor for story themes and mood. And I love describing things as characters interact with those things, rather than a big narrative sweep. It gives narration a sense of movement and physicality.
How gorgeous are you. Sharing all your thoughts, experiences and all your research, to bring us all these videos. You have taught me so much. No words could ever thank you enough.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the 2nd to last sentence is a fragment: 'At a crossroads a ground set with dolmen stones where the spoken bones oracles lay moldering.' That is a dependent clause. And I know it doesn't have to be a complete sentence. But it sets up expectations for a conclusion to the clause that makes it difficult to read. Thanks for the video, glad to have you back.
I'd like to thank you for making such useful videos! Not only are they way more densely packed with information and advice than most tutorials I've found (including published ones), but the atmosphere you cultivate - with your calm voice, the pleasant visuals, the super relaxing music - is so calming, it quells all the usually overwhelming anxiety that comes with learning new skills!
This video is spectacular. Thank you for your work and thanks to those who you interviewed as well. The explanations are clear, the examples are strong and the language resonates. Your voice is so melodic. I was being lulled almost as much as i was being educated.
Oh geeze, this is like manna from heaven for me right now. I am literally STUCK with churning out crap-tastic description and trying to write engaging dialogue. Going to try some of this stuff. Thank you!
There're certainly other guider on RUclips but, you are really different I can feel the words you use I feel the background sound sout suiting . So glad to see you ❤💓
As always, your videos help writers on a deeper level, Diane. I love them and watch them over again when I need to cement in the subtleties of a writing concept. I read (and am writing) historical fiction, and nothing blasts me out of the story like clunky metaphors/similes that include anachronisms. Red velvet cake on the American frontier circa 1860? I almost threw the book across the room. :( I'll take a place-holder metaphor that's a cliche, and work it into something that reflects the character's world and POV. I'll also take a scene that's on the 'white room' side, and look at it like I'm a movie director, filling in background and adding relevant external forces (wind, rain, birds swooping down) to give the characters something interesting to react to during dialogue. I watch a lot of RUclips videos of things outside my personal experience, such as black powder shooting, horse behavior, and tours of Mid-western historic homes and Western museums. Period diaries (Civil War/Oregon Trail, etc.) are also great for picking up details that can be described in a scene to add authenticity.
Thank you so much for your channel Diane! There is clear hardwork poured into your videos, super informative for a young aspiring writing like me. Thank you again.
The video I didn't know I needed. Amazing work, as ever. I always wondered what was lacking in my prose, and, well... Now I know (at least partially)! Thank you so much for the effort you put in.
You're helping me a lot to develop as a writer. At this point I'm actually enjoying my writing and people are genuinely interested in what I'm producing. Even though the scenes feel merely sketched out to me. This video gave me just another oh-thats-why-moment. Keep up the great content and thank you so much :)
Thanks for the insight! I was already doing this for my mc since he is a self-insert character, making his descritions sharp and to the point. kind of how I see things, logically.
your voice is so soothing, thank you for such a wonderfully crafted video, but I could probably listen to you talk about manual ikea instructions for two hours
Another good idea is to switch a scene’s cadence (the focus), as it helps prevent your reading become monotonous or too similar (i.e. everything describes what the character does or thinks).
Diane thank you so much for the insightful video. I'm struggling with a particular scene in its sparse descriptions so these tips and advice are beneficial. Thanks again for all your hard work and I hope you have a healthy and happy new year. 🥰
So many writers eagerly awaits your new uploads. Diane, I believe you're an incredible author. Could I, please, ask how many years you put into writing? Thank you so much! Best regards from Ukraine! The advice that you and the excellent writers give here is priceless.
I would like to add to this beautiful explanation. Sometimes it's nice to intentionally withhold some descriptions. For instance, it can point to a blind spot of the character. Example from a novel: the MC is a marchioness with a subdued gentle attitude of a slightly broken person. Sometimes painfully subdued and gentle. She is manipulative, mostly on defensive side. But the reader is told that she did awful things in cold blood in the past. She calmly acknowledges this fact in her head. It didn't fit up for me But there were two scenes that pieced together the picture. 1. She visits incognito impoverished slums to find a specific person. Description just glosses over the people who were asking for money. They were mentioned in the passing, but from the prior plot reader is informed that these people are in really desperate condition. AND she keeps her gentle and subdued attitude when she talks to the local informant. 2. There was a failed assassination attempt from a jealous young girl of a lower rank. It was too clumsy and stupid to succeed, and that girl instantly regretted and pleaded guilty. Marchioness's decision? Execution on the spot, performed by a family member of that girl, so that at least the family won't suffer consequences. Description in this case glances over the emotions of the people involved. Basically, "if that's how things are in the world, I roll with it, emotions be damned". And MC still behaved herself in a gentle subdued manner without a glimpse of hatred. If anything she hated the incompetence of that girl. The lack of description hit me hard. Partially because it showed the consistent potential for despicable evil that really existed all along. I use it too. I think it works with threats: MC is attacked, but description's focus is placed on marginally related things. This way I showed the scale of a bigger threat looming ahead, or that the current threat is insignificant, or "the burden is too big, I guess it's fine if my journey ends here"
Another excellent video. The guests and their choices of excerpts were terrific and instructive! I can vouch for the TL;DR Word Herd Flash Fiction competition. I entered last year, receiving the random prompts "Monsters" and "Glassblowing", and so I created a story about a family of monsters enjoying a day out, blending in during the Halloween event at a Renaissance Faire. My story wasn't chosen, but it was a ton of fun to write and great for practicing how to utilize all five senses while building a concise, entertaining story. Also, the feedback from the judges was helpful! I'm going to keep on trying until one of mine makes the cut. The stories that won last year were all worthy, and the first place winning story, 'For Infinity', about an astronaut telling a joke to their psychologist, was poignant and exceptional.
I'm so happy you enjoyed the video, Noah! And it's wonderful that you entered the competition and got so much out of it, even if it wasn't a win. Your piece about a Renaissance Faire sounds like a smile-worthy story. I'm always glad to see a comment from you. :)
As a Game Master (GM for those IN the know... haha) I mostly PERFORM my descriptions, and generally it's before a group of 3 to 5, but occasionally a few more will approach the Game we're playing, often asking respectfully if we mind that they sit in... SO the descriptions as I "write" them are what we (GM's) call "prep". It's a lot like when you'd jot down notes and bullet-points for those index cards to compete in English Class by reading a speech you didn't want to write about something you didn't care about... EXCEPT that I do care, and I AM interested... and this isn't for a grade from some platinum haired and frumpy old woman who couldn't smile if I dropped an 80 pound bar of solid gold on her desk at 6AM just to get out of role call... I take those few bullet points to set MY mood, though... They have to bring about the atmosphere of setting, the emotion I want to stir in my audience, the Players I need to stir to action somehow, even if they're more interested in their phones than me until it's their turn to throw dice and declare their action. They risk PC's that they've spent hours putting together, lovingly crafting every word of backstory and profile, and then hours upon hours trying to role play. They cultivate the growth and arc that brings these reluctant vagabonds together as a working team and then grow them to rise to my action, HEROES who still risk life, limb, and soul for their precious world and masses of people who's only repayment is to carry their memories in song and dance and festival for centuries after they've forged empires, murdered monsters, and created or protected a safe space for a more modern and civilized age... Each visit to a place is wholly unique. My reason for bringing Players and others there is different every time I go... well... all except for one. One place is mine... Kaz's Bar and Grill, was built stone by stone and marker for marker by Kaz, one of my earliest Characters in the Game. He'd been an adventurer for nearly two centuries before retiring as a barkeep, a long and healthily storied career, even for a half-grougach. As a proficient mage, his stocky "wild-elven" build had gifted him for the durability that many magae simply didn't possess, and in his travels, he bought little parcels of land... or occasionally, found a nearby stone he could legitimately "claim" as his own with his mark. It had been his retirement plan from the beginning, and once the horrors of Sogorath were no more, Kaz was finally able to use his remaining power to pass the fortune of his life and ideals onward. As many a tavern had provided for him, he only wished to give respite to the weary wanderer. So Kaz's Bar and Grill was born from his dream... There was a ritual spell, and once cast it allow him to tie all the locations where his mark had been laid to his one actual building, crossing even the boundaries of the planes themselves. Even before anyone had thought to question his longevity or the magnitude of peoples who would instinctively say "Better call Kaz" when something was approaching crisis, sometimes almost in jest, a meme of sorts, or like a superstition... by tying all those spaces together through his own willful magical power, he had cemented himself to the realms, to reality itself. It was his first and probably would remain his only quiet step of Ascension. Unbeknownst to probably every traveler who sat at his bar for an ale or warmed ragged and road weary bones at his hearth, there was a Demigod polishing glasses, serving drinks, and only too happy to help one of the barmaids carry plates and platters to an unusually large or hungry party of adventurers. He'd always been overtly humble, but a sneaky bastard. AND that's the one description I keep alive in its stagnation... It was a good way to retire Kaz, and it's rather fun to do my best to portray that one location as "dead on exactly" the same description every time as I can. It's a tough performance, even give or take the usual fallibility of human memory. It's a riddle, and figuring out that it IS the same place every time is a hint to something in-world that the Players can actually use. They will always enter and leave to and from the same city, wherever they are at the time, but Kaz is the same person and his place is the same place for all of them... there's a lot of interesting ramification to play with there... and it's always fun when they start to figure it out. ;o)
Reading your chapter on adding a character based layer, my thoughts went to one of my favorite novels, The Outside Boy (Jeanine Cummins). The protagonist is an 11-year-old Irish boy from a family of 'Tinkers' or 'Travelers' who has lived on the road for his entire life. He has pretty much never been inside a building and is quite literally house phobic. What an interesting place to put yourself as an author!
This is going to sound really arrogant, but I honestly find some of these descriptions a bit boring. I think short descriptions, focusing heavily on one or two specific details are the most effective (in my personal opinion). That being said, this is a really great video, and all of the advice given are solid.
My problem with descriptions is my difficulty imagining them. My descriptions tend to be added in my second draft wheen I'm not racing to get everything out of my head before I forget. I like to slow right down and use ambiance tracks to get the imagary going, from there I sit back eyes closed and let the scene paint itself before I start singling important things out and then add the character's voice.
Hello! I've watched your video about "Show don't Tell" and it really helped me! Likewise with this video, The knowledge I received from watching your videos is very important for me who is a beginner writer. You could say I'm still learning about this, I always have trouble making descriptions. When I did the evaluation, all it takes is reading more books and expanding my vocabulary bank. Well, from the start I wasn't the type of person who liked reading novels/storybooks. That's why I'm starting from now! At least I want to be a writer in my country. Thank you for reading this long comment, I used google translate to type this message, sorry if my message is messy^^
This is something I have always wondered how much description is to much you want the reader to imagine and they can be more engaged by leaving some vagueness but sometimes this can cost you subtlety for instance if a character is always cool and collected the nothing more than a raised eyebrow says a lot but the same act with a flamboyant character means nothing
Can you please please please do a video on the passage of time throughout a novel. I really need some tips more than anyting on how to transition through the span of several months without sounding boring or repetitive. I'm having difficulty finding tips about this area.
I've missed you and your beautiful channel so much💙 You don't know me because I haven't written a comment before for I'm in the habit of watching in silence😅, but I've been watching your channel since a long time. I even press the like button before watching anything because I'm sure of seeing something very unique each time. Thank you for this great effort you put in your videos and for sharing your knowledge with us 💙
I've been talking a lot with about an adjacent issue with my partner and friends recently, I guess when most people write, they picture something and then describe it with words. Or at least most of my friends But me personally I am more fixated when I describe anything or write anything with the flow, the rhythm, the syntax, the cadence of the sentence itself.
A video on how to determine when prose one is writing is current, fashionable and relevant would make for a good video. Often, I don't know if what I'm writing is outdated or already been done.😯
To be honest, I think there's so much variety in the publishing world right now that all forms of prose are welcome in fiction. Even when it comes to head-hopping and second-person point of view (which are often discouraged in modern fiction), there are contemporary works with those features that shine. So, I would focus more on honing your individual style and touching on ideas, themes, and characters that feel relevant to the times. What are the questions keeping everyone (including you) up at night? Those can be your north star for what feels current. Keep writing! :)
😅😅 I have a problem, where I really don't care what is current or outdated or been done before or not... Unless I'm intentionally trying to write something in a specific real-world time period. I just worry about what *_I_* want to write, or what I would want to read. ^-^ 😁😁 😆 💜 (buut that's just a personal/me-thing, really.😊)
i fancy myself a horror writter; ..Although, my style is more of a "machine gun barrage" in description and simile. So I lean more towards the horrror side... but it seems; unless your "H.p Lovecraft" pages and pages of; rolling, unfurled, description, seems to be the "faux pas" of the creative writting world..hey I have a werewolf story....I was working on ...saddly enough it also has two names as of late. Under working titles ("black lion" or "fireflies"). I was thinking of showing off a little but none of this is published or solisited....so who asked me? Besides everyone thinks their genius and everyone needs to refine. "shorten; tighten, condense and intensify" . Oh yeah and remember the main vein rule...heh, heh..."DONOT FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR WORK"! I'm getting to the point where i love the; "rough draft, re-draft, draft and re-draft process.😁
Do you think you could talk about the “overarching message” of books - the point, the truth or lessons within books. How to figure out what your message is, and maybe examples from you books or others? This is something I’m struggling with and I can’t find a lot of recourses on the topic..
I'd absolutely love to cover this topic, namely themes in literature. I recommend starting with this Masterclass article on the subject for a high-level view of common literary themes and how to write them: www.masterclass.com/articles/the-complete-guide-to-narrative-theme-in-literature-definition-examples-and-writing-how-to. One method I'll probably include in my video is how the main character's internal arc demonstrates that message or truth. There's a popular writing exercise that involves identifying your protagonist's initial misbelief and final realization. Their misbelief is the assumption or idea that they think is true at the beginning of the book. That misbelief is challenged through the events of the novel, which ultimately result in the character reaching a new conclusion that mirrors the “point” of the story (i.e., what themes or narrative questions are you trying to explore?). Here’s my protagonist’s initial misbelief and final truth for my current novel: MISBELIEF: I can control death (my own and that of others). TRUTH: You can't control death-only life (we all have self-destructive tendencies that make death come sooner, so how we live matters more than how we die). I hope that sparks some ideas. Keep writing! :)
I used to believe that all stories should have a message ... but, over time, I gradually began to believe that it was actually okay- either way -whether a story held any particular or intentional message or simply wanted to tell some particular story or character or such without much concern for a specific message beyond that. 🙂 I think both stories that are meant to have a 'message' to share or teach, and stories that don't, can be valuable and have their own place in this world. But maybe that's just me. 🙂😁
🤔 I don't quite know how to explain my process to approaching description, because I think it varies a lot depending on what exactly I'm trying to describe and why..😅😅 But I probably do something kind of the opposite of a narrow lens, and I think I usually try to think about or picture what's actually in the scene first, then filter that through whatever ambiance or mood or character-perspective I feel also needs to be there after that. But I'm also not afraid of not always writing in a Deep-POV, and such-many of my favorite books, growing up, were books that had obvious narrators or were obviously intended to be told as if they were being recounted later on / some time after-the-fact. ^-^ 🤭🤭🤍💜 ((I think that's becoming an incredibly underappreciated art/skill/, these days, and I - for one - really hope it doesn't die-out completely!)) Basically, I like to set the scene, first-and-foremost: But how that scene does and doesn't need to be set, is going to vary quite a lot, all depending on exactly what scene is being set and why. Like, is it a still scene? Is it an action sequence? Light? Dark? Indoors? Outdoors? Loud? Quiet? Arriving? Departing? Somewhere new to the character(s)? Somewhere familiar to the character(s)? What is the emotional-tone of that moment, and/or what is the overall tone not just of this particular story or this particular character(s) but of this particular world they are existing within? Are there things surrounding that location[ or that point in time], not necessarily directly within it, that could somehow trickle-into and/or otherwise interact-with or influence the things that _are_ currently present directly in that location[ &/or point-in-time]? Things like that. So, I usually try and build the scene[ and the environment] in my mind, first-starting physically, then contextually; And at some point or another, of course, I have to build the story and the character(s) too... but when and how that happens can really depend a lot, depending upon how much I have plotted it out in advance or how much I'm just pantsing it or winging-it just as I go along, or whatever. I'm a very detail-oriented person, but sometimes the detail I orient a thing around is either an extremely subjective or specifically-colored (i.e. extremely emotionally-colored) lens, or even an intentionally undetailed lens. It depends a lot on the tone of story I'm going for, and/or the kind of character(s) within it. And every story can come to me, or be realized by me, in very very different ways. Like, it's not really a set or concrete methodology, overall. Lol I also like to really think about which punctuation marks I do or don't choose to use much like how I think about what words or phrasings and grammatical-arrangements[ or such] too; because I see each punctuation mark as holding different meanings, and often carrying with them slightly different connotations, very much in the same kinda way as different words can/do-at least, to me(!). Lol 😆 ^-^😁😊😊 I can't really control what other people will or won't take away from what I write, but I can absolutely control whatever I do and don't [at very least *_intentionally_* ]try to put into it, and why; and try my best to put it there in a way that is actually there to be found by those others who may/do look at it. 🙂 Basically, I like to have as absolutely much in my mind as possible, and then I just selectively pick-and-choose or prune-down what I do and don't want to place into the actual writing from there; like shaping a bonsai tree, or carving, or sculpture. Or, I at very least try to have as absolutely much in my mind as possible, by the end of it-if I didn't already, even beforehand. I like to feel like everything is bigger than could ever possibly actually be captured on a page; and whatever actually is or isn't captured on each page, well thay is much more like separate people watching the same movie or living through the same moment in life and then each sharing what most stood out to them from what they saw or whatever details that they each remember the most when thinking back on it themselves. And oftentimes that can apply to what's inside a character's internal personage as well, not just the greater world around their particular part of it. I don't necessarily always know the entire planet they live on, or the entire universe that planet is set within, but I get as absolutely close to knowing as much of that all as I can..at very least that I feel is necessary((which depends on how stationary or one-location the story will or won't be, and depends on if there is anything relevant happening that would make the news so-to-speak in any way that would reach or be relevant to the actual character/s, on both a planetary and/or a smaller country///town(city)//building(room)/so-on / type scale as well; I've written stories with characters traveling from one planet to another, and stories that happened for differing reasons almost exclusively just in one room, so it can vary drastically-but there's definitely often a huge discrepancy between what I know and what the reader(s) &/or the character(s) know...all-depending, 'cause then sometimes there are times when I really don't know anything more than just whatever is actually written, and I just hope there's a complete enough picture by the end of it)). 😹 But, no matter what I know, whatever I actually write down depends on what the character(s) know[ or don't know]..and/or what the reader should[ or shouldn't] know, but that's all a part of what I establish[ at least within my own mind] when I'm building the world/scene/story/character(s)/ambiance[/etc.] either on the page or in my own head. 😄 ^-^ In short... I guess, basically = first, I just figure out what is even there-or should be there-that could be described at all to begin with; then, I just figure out which things that are there to actually describe, and why/how. And sometimes this happens before I even write one word-but other times, that happens only _AS_ I'm putting the first words down, and then just builds from there as things go along; and everything else beyond that just depends, a lot, from story-to-story / world-to-world / character-to-character and such.🤷♀️🤷 🤷🏻♂️ 🤣 🤣
For myself, so far in my writing endeavors, I find that less is sometimes more. I tend to overdo exposition and spatial descriptions. Sometimes when I've pounded out 500 or 1,000 words, I look at the physical structure of the what I've written, and while it isn't a blob of Faulknerian exposition/description dumps, I still have these sizable blocks of descriptions. The question I ask myself then is this: does this add to the movement of story or does it bog the reader down in tedious details that won't have any payoffs later? In excess of 80% of the time, I end up breaking up the chunky slabs and find some other way of weaving the descriptions into the narrative, via dialog or via action. As to the descriptions themselves, I favor a mix between the Spartan Cormac McCarthy style of writing where the repetition of important words and keying into particular descriptions flesh out the world for the reader, and Stephen King's style of describing where he finds details and digs into them and digs into them until something juicy oozes out. But as you wrote somewhere in your responses in the comments, it's really what feels right for you, for the story, and for the moment you're writing that determines what and how things are described. There ain't a right or wrong answer. There's only what works or what doesn't. Thus endth the opinion.
Hi there, viewers! You can read a text version of this video on Medium: quotidianwriter.medium.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-writing-engaging-descriptions-in-fiction-91cefb2b4477
You're doing God's work here, Diane. I'm always greatful for your videos and learn so much at the right times.
I struggle with descriptions, not from a language, content, context, pacing, syntax, perspective (1st, 2nd, 3rd+), worldbuilding, character work/desciption aspect or anything else in terms of what's specifically on the page as I'm learned in/cognizant of most skills relevant to me and my style/method in that regard.
I struggle primarily with the intuition of the matter.
I've written in many different writing mediums, but especially poetry, screenwriting, and prose (short stories/novels).
I've realized I've amalgamated those three disciplines into one prose style. I truly enjoy it. But sometimes people reflect to me that they somewhat felt they were reading a script.
I'm not at all light on descriptions throughout my works. There are many instances where I go in great depth into my worlds, but I believe there are other instances, almost explicitly around dialogue, where I throw myself into the course of the discourse and ease off of the work of continuing to set the scene.
These things I typically pick up during revisions. But it can become a tedious affair, and I realize that not having this part of my sense engaged in earlier drafts can throw me off on later drafts, and I wonder then if I've overdone a scene. Become unnecessarily embroiled in cushioning the narrative with tangible and evocative sensory details for the scene's setting, character perspectives, plot details, etc.
So the intuition I feel I'm missing is a sense of balance, proper placement, completedness, a sense of having hit the right depth & distribution while exercising a peering into the perception of an audience member to see the bigger picture of what I'm writing, and whether or not the breadth of the work is clearly intepreted and consistent.
I hope that makes sense.
(I also realize, if there's anything about descriptions I'm especially desiring to learn, it's subtext, which I see as a more holistic elevation of description that ties into dialogue, plot, and everything else. I often have trouble seeing it. I usually benefit from others alighting me to it in a book, show, or film. But I have trouble acknowledging subtext with my own initiative and within my own mind. Especially to see an analytical thought I'm having about a story and recognize, "Oh! That's subtext!" and learn to distill it from the other details, thematic aspects, and narrative categories of a given piece.)
@@DarrenWilsonOne Thank you so much for your kind words! That sense of balance is difficult to achieve, and I think what feels right differs for every writer (and reader). I've faced a similar problem as you have, where I feel like I provide ample descriptions and visuals, yet certain readers ask for more details and character movements. Part of that might stem from the fact that my brain works best in abstract, internal environments, and I prefer those types of descriptions as a reader (e.g., character studies, introspection). Although I have an interest in art, I wouldn't call myself a spatial person, as I don't visualize how people and objects are oriented as much as other readers might; it's more about the tone and feel of the words, even, rather than a mental movie. My writing tends to reflect my own readerly preferences, I suppose, but I also want to appeal to readers who aren't like me.
As someone else commented on this video, it helps to have literary mentors to turn toward on your bookshelf, where you have descriptive passages on hand that really sing to you. I try to follow that gut feeling ("I like this") and figure out the why and how ("What tools did the author use to achieve this? What am I doing or not doing in my writing?").
I also believe the struggle you've outlined is common among artists. In all the author and artist bios I've consumed, there's this constant sense of striving, accompanied by frustration at being uncertain about what will make a work feel complete. Maybe that uncertainty is something we can never fully overcome, even as we develop certain aspects of our intuition. Writers will always doubt their own creative choices, but in the end, we can only trust what feels true to ourselves in the moment.
You are cute
Thank you so much for all the effort you put into your wonderful videos. The text version is also great. It's definitely worth saving for reference when writing.
When the world needed her most, she returned
Well said.
Love this.
Yes!
Always seems to be the way.
Would love a collab between her and Shaelin tbh. Anyone else?
Read this as «word» not world and thought it was fitting. Both actually.
Can I just take a moment to say how genuinely beautiful each of these videos are? Gentle, warm colors, thoughtful, yet parsimonious use if words, and subtle but uplifting "you can do this." I never miss an upload!
PS, having done some music publication and voiceover work professionally, you absolutely could record if you wanted.
Wow, thank you so much for your kind words! I truly appreciate your comment, and I aspire to make every video more beautiful than the last. Keep writing!
I agree. I love them ⚘️
No adds? No sponsor? No Patreon? This is gold and its free. Thanks for your hardwork Diane... we appreciate it. Thank you
Please do ads sponsors and patreon if you want Diane. Artists deserves payment too! Would not think different of you!
As a non-native English speaker/"aspiring writer" I'm actually horrified to begin writing because due to me learning English as a second language I don't have the same sense of reliance on it as I do with my native tongue and I'm afraid that my descriptions will be stiff and boring, dialogue unmotivated and awful, characters artificial and one dimensional because of my circumstances. And there's so many advices and tips floating all around the internet that it makes me feel so overwhelmed. It makes me feel as if me even beginning to write is a worthless endeavor most of the time but I still come back to that idea. I still don't know how to deal with that feeling but I want to thank you for being one of the few guiding lights in the abyss of self doubt and fear of writing.
Nothing wrong will happen due to trying. Just give the burning desire in your heart a try❤
Diane. How? How do you always manage to post about exactly what I’m struggling to write?! You always manage to break down the barriers in my mind and simplify the process in a way that feels manageable, doable. Thank you. Thank you always for posting such incredible content.
I'm so glad to hear that, Kate! That's always what I aim to achieve. Thank you for such kind words. Keep writing! :)
My personal favorite thing to do when writing settings is to go out in nature and find a similar setting or element that fits the setting of my story. Then I try to describe it in unique phasing. I do this because often you can be shocked by how many little things you don’t imagine when describing scenes and just by going outside can give you alot of inspiration!
Thank you for the tip
I hope you can release more videos like this. All of your videos in that playlist is so rich in knowledge and content that it takes me two hours to watch your videos since I note everything you are saying 🤣 Please release more content. You and Brandon Sanderson's lectures are my favourite on teaching writing.
Thank you so much for your high praise! It truly means a lot to me. You were here so early that I had the video as unlisted when you commented, haha! Keep writing. :)
Agreed. A lot of pointless rambling, trite lists or fluff on most writing channels. I'd add Ellen Brock, Glenn Gers (Writing for Screens) and Alyssa Matesic. All five channels get right to the good stuff and articulate it so well, while also being encouraging and realistic about the challenges involved.
The best descriptions happen in the moment. Instead of writing, "Men's heads would turn at her approach," couch it in a scene in which this happens. Describe a man whose head turns as she approaches, how his eyes flick to her without conscious effort. The train of her dress swishes along the marble floor of the museum, a susurrus as soft as the wind through the trees but shocking in its beauty, striking in its intensity, and startling in its purity. The sound fills the room as everyone in it holds their breath until she passes them one by one, their attention narrowed to the point in time in which she exists--this, right now, this perfect moment. Millennia move mountains, centuries bury cities, but this moment exists only as long as she allows it, and when she passes, it too crumbles to the machinations of the universe's ticking hands. And then it is gone.
This is a great video, thank you!
Relevance to character is something I constantly forget, yet it seems to be THE thing, ALL things, that make the description what it is.
im begging for a vid on multi-pov, specifically 3 or more povs. how to weave multiple inciding incidents, internal conflicts, personal stakes into a cohesive whole.
I've been really struggling with writing description recently...actually, it's probably the hardest thing about writing, at least for me. This video came in at the right time as usual, Diane!
Your writing videos are the only ones I actually enjoy watching and find beneficial! I’ve been rewatching your old videos, and I’m so glad you’ve posted again. Writing descriptions is going to be so much easier to approach now!!
"Diane, I truly appreciate the knowledge and wisdom you share."
In my dystopian series, Elektra Voltare, the narrating main character acquires the ability to sense electromagnetic fields. She struggles to describe the sense by saying it is like describing color to the blind or music to the deaf. All the world is alive with swirling currents of electricity and all life has its own bio electric signature. That presented a bit of a challenge to describe.
In this dystopian future, in order to make the world more accessible to the reader, this main character is raised in the basement of a monastery and educated from encyclopedias published in 1988 (her mutant power absorbs electricity, so she cannot read from electronic devices and the society no longer uses paper). Her out-of-date knowledge allows her to describe the world as she encounters it in terms a reader from our time will understand.
For me, description derives from putting yourself in the place of the characters and sensing through their senses. The description follows where the character places her attention.
That's a clever workaround to make your world more accessible for the reader! Thank you for sharing. :)
i personally do not wish to give advice to a more talented artist than myself....so pretententious and rude...but i flirt with disaster in this contention i use a mixology; uuuhh, "conflate"? but if a hair line off it will render the scene confusing...like (taken from my short story novella "The Embrace" second installation novella "Widower" first chapter third paragraph)--- "The short; sharp, shreill, shreik, shattered the glass sleeve of the hurricane kerocene lamp. Sending the rooms only light source into a cacophany of light and shadows. The scared light jumps and twitches into chasing and being chased by shadows and flicker. peering into obscure corners of the room...which peer back.. And as if from some hellish dimension many minor imps and twisted; snarling faces, of demons stand in reverance to behold in awe the abomination of death and resurrection...unholy and unspeakable."---but thats just my style....its difficult if not gramatically impossible😄 good luck i think your story stuff is a great idea 👍🤞
Is it fate, or coincidence, to stumble upon a precious gem while destitute. Either way, I found you when I needed to. As an aspiring write i struggle with this more than I should. Thank you.
As someone who merely reads a lot, these videos are informative in describing what I have noticed other writers do to describe scenes and emotions but could never articulate how.
Was most pleased to get another wonderful video from you. Wonderful work as always.
your videos are perfect for me. descriptive, to the point and packed with information. I found you yesterday and I cant even binge watch your videos cause they're so packed with good bits that I'm stuck processing it for hours passed. thank you for the quality videos
This video is so awesome. You're section on pairing description with action feels like it'll be a real game changer for my writing. Thank you!
Well when I took a creative writing course in college. My professor had me try to describe walking into my room if I was blind.
Also a statement from a long lost poetry book I never found again.
“Describe a tree, so that it couldn’t possibly be mistaken for any other tree.”
I love that quote!
That's awesome!~ ^-^
@@QuotidianWriter me too!:) I really miss that book. I tried to find it for years😔
Exactly what I needed to get me back into writing. Thank you 🙏
For me, it's what my mind's eye sees, hears, smells, etc. I try to create a scene as immersive as possible, so the description of the space is crucial to me. The point about "how to ask the question" at the beginning of this is an excellent way to look at it - what does the POV character see, hear, smell, etc. That is incredibly helpful! Thanks, Diane!
My approach to writing description - (1) Write the scene based on verbs "VERB! That's what's happening!" to quote Grammar Rock. (2) Listen to RUclips writing lessons on Description to help me construct a better, more dynamic scene. (Big time underwriter, here.) I have to hash over each scene several times to eliminate cliches, awkward phrasing and rabbit trails. Sometimes I write the scene two or three times and save "the good parts" to build the final version of that scene. And I am NOT afraid to throw away anything!
*claps*
Thank you for mentioning aphantasia. It makes going along with walls of visual description an immense effort that sometimes ends up not being worth it.
On the flipside, I noticed experimenting with descriptions actually helps visualize what I am going for once it is done. Especially after I first heard the tip to write it from another characters perspective.
One thing I learn and relearn all the time: While someone might not be able to visualize things, their emotional, aural or sensory imagination might be stronger for it. All the more reason to include all senses in descriptions. I'm partial to aural imagination. Not just environmental sounds. Like, take the time to describe a piece of music, the dynamics with which a pianist hits the keys, whether a piece has colorful chords or bland ones, and some people will be able to hear it. Ofc its also a stylistic and thematic choice to do something like that, but its the kind of thing that would immerse me much more than describing the room the character plays in - even if that description was emotionally charged.
How Joe Butler described his mind is practically 1 to 1 with mine, never thought I’d “meet” another person who thinks like me ☺️
I did actually searched "describe" on the channel some days ago. it's like a sign that i shouldn't postpone the next step of writing fiction.
Thanks~ and happy holydays.
You are truly a blessing Diane! When my books become best sellers, you will be shown gratitude. ❤💜
I have most if not all of your videos on a writing playlist and am so glad that you've posted something new. Your content is so helpful and easy to digest
I just recently got back my motivation to write so this is perfect timing
Wow, I've literally been watching your videos this past week helping me write, revise and edit my manuscripts.
Noticed you post roughly around every couple months and was bummed out -only to see today you posted. Thank you for all your great advice.
Quality over quantity in everything.
💜
Agreed. I am a total fan of Diane. Her videos are so beautifully written and professionally produced. She has helped me improve more than one story.
I owe you my whole soul, you saved me from giving up on writing and lit up that fire for it I always had that was starting to become just brazes. Thank you so much for your work
You really have a way of teaching that actually helps people. A lot of writers will give you tips, but will underexplain them so I do not know how to properly integrate them, and do not really understand why they are useful. People just telling me show don't tell isn't helpful. Why are we doing that? The in depth explanations combined with the good examples really make it useful.
I am thrilled to see a new video by you! Especially one on the longer side. I find your videos not only informative, but very soothing. Perfect for when I want to listen to writing advice, but I don't want to feel overwhelmed by it. Love your content, ty for making it. 🙏
One year later and I am still listening to these videos on a lot of nights when I'm trying to fall asleep, but also want to let my brain absorb something of value. Thank you so much for the effort you put into each of these videos. Your channel is one of my favorite writing channels💕🙏
How I have missed these videos, brilliant as they always are! I approach description through layers. In the first draft I write what I see in my mind, the outline of what happens and where, sprinkling key details as I see them as I go along. Then when I tackle the second and subsequent drafts, I take it sentence-by-sentence, really imagine what I'm seeing or what my characters are feeling. If I'm struggling, I read a piece of fiction from my favourite authors for inspiration (how much detail do they put? what kind of metaphors or language do they choose?) Then I look for all the filter words and mercilessly eliminate them one-by-one, sparing one or two if the description begins to feel too heavy-handed. The danger lies in too much description that can inflate the text, so I try to remove all superfluous action or dialogue or description, leaning it down to fighting weight where every sentence and every word packs a knock-out punch. At least that's the plan.
As this is coming out on New Year's Eve eve, here's to the writing we did this year and the stories we will tell on the new year. And remember our mantra, whatever you do, keep writing!
That's an excellent approach and one that I'd like to follow in my own writing! Thank you so much for sharing. Cheers! :)
I so look forward to her voice. It wells up a sense of nostalgia in me that I can't describe. It motivates me to write like no other influencer. ❤️
I also like using the environment as metaphor for story themes and mood. And I love describing things as characters interact with those things, rather than a big narrative sweep. It gives narration a sense of movement and physicality.
How gorgeous are you.
Sharing all your thoughts, experiences and all your research, to bring us all these videos. You have taught me so much. No words could ever thank you enough.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the 2nd to last sentence is a fragment: 'At a crossroads a ground set with dolmen stones where the spoken bones oracles lay moldering.' That is a dependent clause. And I know it doesn't have to be a complete sentence. But it sets up expectations for a conclusion to the clause that makes it difficult to read.
Thanks for the video, glad to have you back.
Lucid and succinct, as always. Merci.
This has to be my favourite channel! Not only are the videos so genuinely helpful but they're so lovely to watch and listen to 💕
I'd like to thank you for making such useful videos! Not only are they way more densely packed with information and advice than most tutorials I've found (including published ones), but the atmosphere you cultivate - with your calm voice, the pleasant visuals, the super relaxing music - is so calming, it quells all the usually overwhelming anxiety that comes with learning new skills!
This video is spectacular. Thank you for your work and thanks to those who you interviewed as well.
The explanations are clear, the examples are strong and the language resonates.
Your voice is so melodic. I was being lulled almost as much as i was being educated.
Oh geeze, this is like manna from heaven for me right now. I am literally STUCK with churning out crap-tastic description and trying to write engaging dialogue. Going to try some of this stuff. Thank you!
There're certainly other guider on RUclips but, you are really different I can feel the words you use I feel the background sound sout suiting . So glad to see you ❤💓
As always, your videos help writers on a deeper level, Diane. I love them and watch them over again when I need to cement in the subtleties of a writing concept. I read (and am writing) historical fiction, and nothing blasts me out of the story like clunky metaphors/similes that include anachronisms. Red velvet cake on the American frontier circa 1860? I almost threw the book across the room. :( I'll take a place-holder metaphor that's a cliche, and work it into something that reflects the character's world and POV. I'll also take a scene that's on the 'white room' side, and look at it like I'm a movie director, filling in background and adding relevant external forces (wind, rain, birds swooping down) to give the characters something interesting to react to during dialogue. I watch a lot of RUclips videos of things outside my personal experience, such as black powder shooting, horse behavior, and tours of Mid-western historic homes and Western museums. Period diaries (Civil War/Oregon Trail, etc.) are also great for picking up details that can be described in a scene to add authenticity.
Thank you so much for your channel Diane! There is clear hardwork poured into your videos, super informative for a young aspiring writing like me. Thank you again.
So happy to see a new tutorial on your channel! Thank you so much!
Just returned back to writing recently, amazing timing ❤
The video I didn't know I needed. Amazing work, as ever. I always wondered what was lacking in my prose, and, well... Now I know (at least partially)! Thank you so much for the effort you put in.
You're helping me a lot to develop as a writer. At this point I'm actually enjoying my writing and people are genuinely interested in what I'm producing. Even though the scenes feel merely sketched out to me. This video gave me just another oh-thats-why-moment. Keep up the great content and thank you so much :)
Thanks for the insight! I was already doing this for my mc since he is a self-insert character, making his descritions sharp and to the point. kind of how I see things, logically.
Enright's bit was so goof I recoiled and aufibly said "Wow." For some reason the similes and character thought hit me hard.
your voice is so soothing, thank you for such a wonderfully crafted video, but I could probably listen to you talk about manual ikea instructions for two hours
You deserve a million subscribers over,
When l become a success as a Writer, l now have a mentor to thank - the sweet soul is Diane
All thanks
Right on time, Diane 👍
I'm grateful you're here
I'm grateful you're here as well! :)
Thank you for all this help, Diane! Can't find this level of resources in other writing channels.
The same comment for your "Punctuating Dialogue" - - top volume is still a strain to hear clear enough. The content is excellent though!
Amazing work Diane! Thank you for your generosity!
Another good idea is to switch a scene’s cadence (the focus), as it helps prevent your reading become monotonous or too similar (i.e. everything describes what the character does or thinks).
Diane thank you so much for the insightful video. I'm struggling with a particular scene in its sparse descriptions so these tips and advice are beneficial. Thanks again for all your hard work and I hope you have a healthy and happy new year. 🥰
Thank you for this, I struggle with aphantasia therefore written description and scene setting are extremely difficult and time consuming for me.
Thank you Diane, wonderful, inspiring, detailed and mindopening advice
Thank god you’re back. I thought you had given up on your videos😞
So many writers eagerly awaits your new uploads. Diane, I believe you're an incredible author. Could I, please, ask how many years you put into writing?
Thank you so much!
Best regards from Ukraine!
The advice that you and the excellent writers give here is priceless.
Every point here falls in line with Poe's "Unity of Effect" (which I learned from the Quotidian Writer, BTW).
I was looking forward for another video of yours, thank you, these tips are so useful :)
I would like to add to this beautiful explanation.
Sometimes it's nice to intentionally withhold some descriptions. For instance, it can point to a blind spot of the character.
Example from a novel: the MC is a marchioness with a subdued gentle attitude of a slightly broken person. Sometimes painfully subdued and gentle. She is manipulative, mostly on defensive side. But the reader is told that she did awful things in cold blood in the past. She calmly acknowledges this fact in her head. It didn't fit up for me
But there were two scenes that pieced together the picture.
1. She visits incognito impoverished slums to find a specific person. Description just glosses over the people who were asking for money. They were mentioned in the passing, but from the prior plot reader is informed that these people are in really desperate condition. AND she keeps her gentle and subdued attitude when she talks to the local informant.
2. There was a failed assassination attempt from a jealous young girl of a lower rank. It was too clumsy and stupid to succeed, and that girl instantly regretted and pleaded guilty. Marchioness's decision? Execution on the spot, performed by a family member of that girl, so that at least the family won't suffer consequences. Description in this case glances over the emotions of the people involved. Basically, "if that's how things are in the world, I roll with it, emotions be damned". And MC still behaved herself in a gentle subdued manner without a glimpse of hatred. If anything she hated the incompetence of that girl.
The lack of description hit me hard. Partially because it showed the consistent potential for despicable evil that really existed all along.
I use it too. I think it works with threats: MC is attacked, but description's focus is placed on marginally related things. This way I showed the scale of a bigger threat looming ahead, or that the current threat is insignificant, or "the burden is too big, I guess it's fine if my journey ends here"
Another excellent video. The guests and their choices of excerpts were terrific and instructive! I can vouch for the TL;DR Word Herd Flash Fiction competition. I entered last year, receiving the random prompts "Monsters" and "Glassblowing", and so I created a story about a family of monsters enjoying a day out, blending in during the Halloween event at a Renaissance Faire. My story wasn't chosen, but it was a ton of fun to write and great for practicing how to utilize all five senses while building a concise, entertaining story. Also, the feedback from the judges was helpful! I'm going to keep on trying until one of mine makes the cut. The stories that won last year were all worthy, and the first place winning story, 'For Infinity', about an astronaut telling a joke to their psychologist, was poignant and exceptional.
I'm so happy you enjoyed the video, Noah! And it's wonderful that you entered the competition and got so much out of it, even if it wasn't a win. Your piece about a Renaissance Faire sounds like a smile-worthy story. I'm always glad to see a comment from you. :)
T E A L D E E R ?
Incredible, staggering genius.
Great to see a new video, been looking forward to this! :D
JOE!!! I can't wait for your next video! :)
Love your peaceful videos and "out of the box" writing examples. 😊
Thank you so much for your work, Diane. This video is helpful, yet reassuring.
As a Game Master (GM for those IN the know... haha) I mostly PERFORM my descriptions, and generally it's before a group of 3 to 5, but occasionally a few more will approach the Game we're playing, often asking respectfully if we mind that they sit in... SO the descriptions as I "write" them are what we (GM's) call "prep". It's a lot like when you'd jot down notes and bullet-points for those index cards to compete in English Class by reading a speech you didn't want to write about something you didn't care about... EXCEPT that I do care, and I AM interested... and this isn't for a grade from some platinum haired and frumpy old woman who couldn't smile if I dropped an 80 pound bar of solid gold on her desk at 6AM just to get out of role call...
I take those few bullet points to set MY mood, though... They have to bring about the atmosphere of setting, the emotion I want to stir in my audience, the Players I need to stir to action somehow, even if they're more interested in their phones than me until it's their turn to throw dice and declare their action. They risk PC's that they've spent hours putting together, lovingly crafting every word of backstory and profile, and then hours upon hours trying to role play. They cultivate the growth and arc that brings these reluctant vagabonds together as a working team and then grow them to rise to my action, HEROES who still risk life, limb, and soul for their precious world and masses of people who's only repayment is to carry their memories in song and dance and festival for centuries after they've forged empires, murdered monsters, and created or protected a safe space for a more modern and civilized age...
Each visit to a place is wholly unique. My reason for bringing Players and others there is different every time I go... well... all except for one. One place is mine... Kaz's Bar and Grill, was built stone by stone and marker for marker by Kaz, one of my earliest Characters in the Game. He'd been an adventurer for nearly two centuries before retiring as a barkeep, a long and healthily storied career, even for a half-grougach. As a proficient mage, his stocky "wild-elven" build had gifted him for the durability that many magae simply didn't possess, and in his travels, he bought little parcels of land... or occasionally, found a nearby stone he could legitimately "claim" as his own with his mark. It had been his retirement plan from the beginning, and once the horrors of Sogorath were no more, Kaz was finally able to use his remaining power to pass the fortune of his life and ideals onward. As many a tavern had provided for him, he only wished to give respite to the weary wanderer. So Kaz's Bar and Grill was born from his dream... There was a ritual spell, and once cast it allow him to tie all the locations where his mark had been laid to his one actual building, crossing even the boundaries of the planes themselves. Even before anyone had thought to question his longevity or the magnitude of peoples who would instinctively say "Better call Kaz" when something was approaching crisis, sometimes almost in jest, a meme of sorts, or like a superstition... by tying all those spaces together through his own willful magical power, he had cemented himself to the realms, to reality itself. It was his first and probably would remain his only quiet step of Ascension. Unbeknownst to probably every traveler who sat at his bar for an ale or warmed ragged and road weary bones at his hearth, there was a Demigod polishing glasses, serving drinks, and only too happy to help one of the barmaids carry plates and platters to an unusually large or hungry party of adventurers. He'd always been overtly humble, but a sneaky bastard.
AND that's the one description I keep alive in its stagnation... It was a good way to retire Kaz, and it's rather fun to do my best to portray that one location as "dead on exactly" the same description every time as I can. It's a tough performance, even give or take the usual fallibility of human memory. It's a riddle, and figuring out that it IS the same place every time is a hint to something in-world that the Players can actually use. They will always enter and leave to and from the same city, wherever they are at the time, but Kaz is the same person and his place is the same place for all of them... there's a lot of interesting ramification to play with there... and it's always fun when they start to figure it out. ;o)
Reading your chapter on adding a character based layer, my thoughts went to one of my favorite novels, The Outside Boy (Jeanine Cummins). The protagonist is an 11-year-old Irish boy from a family of 'Tinkers' or 'Travelers' who has lived on the road for his entire life. He has pretty much never been inside a building and is quite literally house phobic. What an interesting place to put yourself as an author!
Wonderful. I look forward to watching more from you.
Tulisan penuh makna yang sungguh menginspirasi dan menggugah imajinasi untuk berkreasi.....
👍👍🙏🙏
This is going to sound really arrogant, but I honestly find some of these descriptions a bit boring. I think short descriptions, focusing heavily on one or two specific details are the most effective (in my personal opinion). That being said, this is a really great video, and all of the advice given are solid.
I loved this, like a gen-z finding that perfect tweet.
My problem with descriptions is my difficulty imagining them. My descriptions tend to be added in my second draft wheen I'm not racing to get everything out of my head before I forget. I like to slow right down and use ambiance tracks to get the imagary going, from there I sit back eyes closed and let the scene paint itself before I start singling important things out and then add the character's voice.
Hello! I've watched your video about "Show don't Tell" and it really helped me! Likewise with this video, The knowledge I received from watching your videos is very important for me who is a beginner writer. You could say I'm still learning about this, I always have trouble making descriptions. When I did the evaluation, all it takes is reading more books and expanding my vocabulary bank. Well, from the start I wasn't the type of person who liked reading novels/storybooks. That's why I'm starting from now! At least I want to be a writer in my country. Thank you for reading this long comment, I used google translate to type this message, sorry if my message is messy^^
This is something I have always wondered how much description is to much you want the reader to imagine and they can be more engaged by leaving some vagueness but sometimes this can cost you subtlety for instance if a character is always cool and collected the nothing more than a raised eyebrow says a lot but the same act with a flamboyant character means nothing
Thank you for another wonderful video!
Can you please please please do a video on the passage of time throughout a novel. I really need some tips more than anyting on how to transition through the span of several months without sounding boring or repetitive. I'm having difficulty finding tips about this area.
I really like your videos too. You explain very well and the editing is excellent.
I've missed you and your beautiful channel so much💙
You don't know me because I haven't written a comment before for I'm in the habit of watching in silence😅, but I've been watching your channel since a long time. I even press the like button before watching anything because I'm sure of seeing something very unique each time. Thank you for this great effort you put in your videos and for sharing your knowledge with us 💙
This is such an informative video made with so much thought. Thank you for sharing.
The return of the King... uh, Queen!
This was really helpful. I'm so happy I found your channel :D
I've been talking a lot with about an adjacent issue with my partner and friends recently, I guess when most people write, they picture something and then describe it with words.
Or at least most of my friends
But me personally I am more fixated when I describe anything or write anything with the flow, the rhythm, the syntax, the cadence of the sentence itself.
A video on how to determine when prose one is writing is current, fashionable and relevant would make for a good video. Often, I don't know if what I'm writing is outdated or already been done.😯
To be honest, I think there's so much variety in the publishing world right now that all forms of prose are welcome in fiction. Even when it comes to head-hopping and second-person point of view (which are often discouraged in modern fiction), there are contemporary works with those features that shine. So, I would focus more on honing your individual style and touching on ideas, themes, and characters that feel relevant to the times. What are the questions keeping everyone (including you) up at night? Those can be your north star for what feels current. Keep writing! :)
😅😅 I have a problem, where I really don't care what is current or outdated or been done before or not... Unless I'm intentionally trying to write something in a specific real-world time period. I just worry about what *_I_* want to write, or what I would want to read. ^-^ 😁😁 😆 💜 (buut that's just a personal/me-thing, really.😊)
Really useful advice. Thanks!
Wattpad writers need this in their lives. Im tired of shitty descriptions on some nice books. Makes them discouraging
She is the definition of quality over quantity icl
This was a wonderful video. Love the channel
Wonder how long it takes her to make each video, with this elaborate script and dozens of diff clips with gentle colours
i fancy myself a horror writter; ..Although, my style is more of a "machine gun barrage" in description and simile. So I lean more towards the horrror side... but it seems; unless your "H.p Lovecraft" pages and pages of; rolling, unfurled, description, seems to be the "faux pas" of the creative writting world..hey I have a werewolf story....I was working on ...saddly enough it also has two names as of late. Under working titles ("black lion" or "fireflies"). I was thinking of showing off a little but none of this is published or solisited....so who asked me? Besides everyone thinks their genius and everyone needs to refine. "shorten; tighten, condense and intensify" . Oh yeah and remember the main vein rule...heh, heh..."DONOT FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR WORK"! I'm getting to the point where i love the; "rough draft, re-draft, draft and re-draft process.😁
Do you think you could talk about the “overarching message” of books - the point, the truth or lessons within books. How to figure out what your message is, and maybe examples from you books or others? This is something I’m struggling with and I can’t find a lot of recourses on the topic..
I'd absolutely love to cover this topic, namely themes in literature. I recommend starting with this Masterclass article on the subject for a high-level view of common literary themes and how to write them: www.masterclass.com/articles/the-complete-guide-to-narrative-theme-in-literature-definition-examples-and-writing-how-to.
One method I'll probably include in my video is how the main character's internal arc demonstrates that message or truth. There's a popular writing exercise that involves identifying your protagonist's initial misbelief and final realization. Their misbelief is the assumption or idea that they think is true at the beginning of the book. That misbelief is challenged through the events of the novel, which ultimately result in the character reaching a new conclusion that mirrors the “point” of the story (i.e., what themes or narrative questions are you trying to explore?). Here’s my protagonist’s initial misbelief and final truth for my current novel:
MISBELIEF: I can control death (my own and that of others).
TRUTH: You can't control death-only life (we all have self-destructive tendencies that make death come sooner, so how we live matters more than how we die).
I hope that sparks some ideas. Keep writing! :)
I used to believe that all stories should have a message ... but, over time, I gradually began to believe that it was actually okay- either way -whether a story held any particular or intentional message or simply wanted to tell some particular story or character or such without much concern for a specific message beyond that. 🙂
I think both stories that are meant to have a 'message' to share or teach, and stories that don't, can be valuable and have their own place in this world. But maybe that's just me. 🙂😁
🤔 I don't quite know how to explain my process to approaching description, because I think it varies a lot depending on what exactly I'm trying to describe and why..😅😅
But I probably do something kind of the opposite of a narrow lens, and I think I usually try to think about or picture what's actually in the scene first, then filter that through whatever ambiance or mood or character-perspective I feel also needs to be there after that. But I'm also not afraid of not always writing in a Deep-POV, and such-many of my favorite books, growing up, were books that had obvious narrators or were obviously intended to be told as if they were being recounted later on / some time after-the-fact. ^-^ 🤭🤭🤍💜 ((I think that's becoming an incredibly underappreciated art/skill/, these days, and I - for one - really hope it doesn't die-out completely!))
Basically, I like to set the scene, first-and-foremost: But how that scene does and doesn't need to be set, is going to vary quite a lot, all depending on exactly what scene is being set and why. Like, is it a still scene? Is it an action sequence? Light? Dark? Indoors? Outdoors? Loud? Quiet? Arriving? Departing? Somewhere new to the character(s)? Somewhere familiar to the character(s)? What is the emotional-tone of that moment, and/or what is the overall tone not just of this particular story or this particular character(s) but of this particular world they are existing within? Are there things surrounding that location[ or that point in time], not necessarily directly within it, that could somehow trickle-into and/or otherwise interact-with or influence the things that _are_ currently present directly in that location[ &/or point-in-time]? Things like that. So, I usually try and build the scene[ and the environment] in my mind, first-starting physically, then contextually; And at some point or another, of course, I have to build the story and the character(s) too... but when and how that happens can really depend a lot, depending upon how much I have plotted it out in advance or how much I'm just pantsing it or winging-it just as I go along, or whatever. I'm a very detail-oriented person, but sometimes the detail I orient a thing around is either an extremely subjective or specifically-colored (i.e. extremely emotionally-colored) lens, or even an intentionally undetailed lens. It depends a lot on the tone of story I'm going for, and/or the kind of character(s) within it. And every story can come to me, or be realized by me, in very very different ways. Like, it's not really a set or concrete methodology, overall. Lol
I also like to really think about which punctuation marks I do or don't choose to use much like how I think about what words or phrasings and grammatical-arrangements[ or such] too; because I see each punctuation mark as holding different meanings, and often carrying with them slightly different connotations, very much in the same kinda way as different words can/do-at least, to me(!). Lol 😆 ^-^😁😊😊 I can't really control what other people will or won't take away from what I write, but I can absolutely control whatever I do and don't [at very least *_intentionally_* ]try to put into it, and why; and try my best to put it there in a way that is actually there to be found by those others who may/do look at it. 🙂
Basically, I like to have as absolutely much in my mind as possible, and then I just selectively pick-and-choose or prune-down what I do and don't want to place into the actual writing from there; like shaping a bonsai tree, or carving, or sculpture. Or, I at very least try to have as absolutely much in my mind as possible, by the end of it-if I didn't already, even beforehand. I like to feel like everything is bigger than could ever possibly actually be captured on a page; and whatever actually is or isn't captured on each page, well thay is much more like separate people watching the same movie or living through the same moment in life and then each sharing what most stood out to them from what they saw or whatever details that they each remember the most when thinking back on it themselves. And oftentimes that can apply to what's inside a character's internal personage as well, not just the greater world around their particular part of it.
I don't necessarily always know the entire planet they live on, or the entire universe that planet is set within, but I get as absolutely close to knowing as much of that all as I can..at very least that I feel is necessary((which depends on how stationary or one-location the story will or won't be, and depends on if there is anything relevant happening that would make the news so-to-speak in any way that would reach or be relevant to the actual character/s, on both a planetary and/or a smaller country///town(city)//building(room)/so-on / type scale as well; I've written stories with characters traveling from one planet to another, and stories that happened for differing reasons almost exclusively just in one room, so it can vary drastically-but there's definitely often a huge discrepancy between what I know and what the reader(s) &/or the character(s) know...all-depending, 'cause then sometimes there are times when I really don't know anything more than just whatever is actually written, and I just hope there's a complete enough picture by the end of it)). 😹 But, no matter what I know, whatever I actually write down depends on what the character(s) know[ or don't know]..and/or what the reader should[ or shouldn't] know, but that's all a part of what I establish[ at least within my own mind] when I'm building the world/scene/story/character(s)/ambiance[/etc.] either on the page or in my own head. 😄 ^-^
In short... I guess, basically = first, I just figure out what is even there-or should be there-that could be described at all to begin with; then, I just figure out which things that are there to actually describe, and why/how. And sometimes this happens before I even write one word-but other times, that happens only _AS_ I'm putting the first words down, and then just builds from there as things go along; and everything else beyond that just depends, a lot, from story-to-story / world-to-world / character-to-character and such.🤷♀️🤷 🤷🏻♂️ 🤣 🤣
For myself, so far in my writing endeavors, I find that less is sometimes more. I tend to overdo exposition and spatial descriptions. Sometimes when I've pounded out 500 or 1,000 words, I look at the physical structure of the what I've written, and while it isn't a blob of Faulknerian exposition/description dumps, I still have these sizable blocks of descriptions. The question I ask myself then is this: does this add to the movement of story or does it bog the reader down in tedious details that won't have any payoffs later? In excess of 80% of the time, I end up breaking up the chunky slabs and find some other way of weaving the descriptions into the narrative, via dialog or via action.
As to the descriptions themselves, I favor a mix between the Spartan Cormac McCarthy style of writing where the repetition of important words and keying into particular descriptions flesh out the world for the reader, and Stephen King's style of describing where he finds details and digs into them and digs into them until something juicy oozes out.
But as you wrote somewhere in your responses in the comments, it's really what feels right for you, for the story, and for the moment you're writing that determines what and how things are described. There ain't a right or wrong answer. There's only what works or what doesn't.
Thus endth the opinion.
You are so good! Thx for the videos