Descriptions-Part 2

Salutations Writers,

   Today I am going to post about the second part of my descriptions series, places. It may seem that at first places and character description are fairly similar, but they really aren’t. When you describe a character you have facial expressions, personal features, clothing etc. But when you are describing a place you have to find different information to describe (landmarks, terrain, weather…)

  

    The first thing that you have to do to describe a place is to think of it as a person.  

Your land mass has personal features…I mean, look…. there’s a rock over there in your story land that is dying to be written about…or a tree in the far corner… or a sound in the wind. Imagine that your land, real or not, is like a living breathing being, your place is your character. 

So what are some of the things that you might want to put into a place description?

    When you are writing a description, it is key to write with your five senses.

•Feel

•Taste

•See

•Hear

•Smell

You don’t have to use all of these, but it is helpful to use some.

  When you are describing the feeling of the setting, you may want to try to say how the soil felt under your characters feet, or how your characters fingertips felt pressed up against a large rock. 

  For taste, you could describe how the salty sea waves splashed into the person’s mouth and filled your characters mouth with a salty tinge.  

 

“See” is one of the harder ones. You can’t just describe what you see and you can’t make a parts list (like the one I talked about in my previous post) you have to give specific features that you see and describe them creatively. In a first draft you might write something like this:

There were large white cliffs.

When you are editing your book, you can spruce up your description by either creatively saying something, or adding words, which will give feeling or depth.  Then you can have an improved sentence that sounds something like this:

There was a massive cliff edge, which had chalk-white walls that shot up towards the crystal blue sky-dome.

Ok…so that might not be a perfect description, but it is an example. 

So far we have travelled through three senses, only two more to go! :D

  Next up is “hear.” This sense a fairly self-explanatory. You can describe the sound of waves, the rustling of trees, the honking of a horn, etc.

Last but not least we have smell. When you smell something, it can create a whole band of emotions. Imagine warm cinnamon buns. What do they make you think of? A family reunion? Your birthday?  A loved grandparent? See how describing a smell creates a whole selection of emotions!? If your trying to describe a cultured market, you will want to say what your character can smell.  Your character can describe spices, oils, incense, dust, and all kinds of things.  

So in conclusion, you have to describe a place like it is it’s own character. It is a living, breathing thing that you think about all the time. You can use the 5 senses rule if you are trying to add depth to a description or you are just lost in trying to write the description. 

 

 Thanks for reading, writers. I hope this post has been helpful! Oh, and PLEASE comment on the blog!!!! I would love to hear what you have to say!

Enjoy writing,

Emily k.

(p.s. HAPPY NEW YEAR! What are your new year resolutions???)