Writing Description: Encourage Readers to Infer More Than They Realize
Use Description to Encourage Readers to Infer More Than They Realize. Sometimes, referring to the shadow of a thing is more powerful than expending the energy to describe the thing itself. Sometimes, articulating the function a thing serves will grant readers permission to conjure their own version of what the thing itself looks like. This means using more than the standard five senses in your writing. Can you describe what it's like for a character to lose her sense of balance? Can you describe what it's like for a character to have forgotten something important that his partner told him that morning? The writer, in each of these scenarios, articulates the value and weight of certain clues and puzzle pieces, over and above the value and weight of solving the whole enigma.
Additional Reading:
Direct Characterization: 6 Tips for Precise Description (Now Novel)
Indirect Characterization: Revealing Characters Subtly (Now Novel)
How Being Subtle Can Improve Your Descriptions (All Write - Fiction Advice)
How Fiction Writers Can Improve the Quality of Their Prose (Kristen Kiefer)
❯ ❯ Adapted from description-writing masterpost: 5 Times When You Should (and 4 Times When You Shouldn’t) Rely on Description