How do I be more descriptive with my writing?
Adjectives are typically a good place to start, but they aren’t the only method. A chair isn’t just “a chair”, it’s “a wooden chair” or an “old wooden chair”.
Stronger usage of verbs can help too. Someone doesn’t “move toward me”, they “saunter toward me”.
You can also get specific with nouns, though this is highly dependent on what’s being described. Hair is hair, but you can sometimes use a style to refer to it, like “ponyail”.
Adverbs can be occasionally useful, depending on how you use them. Poor use of adverbs typically shows up in dialogue tags, and it’s considered poorer writing because your ability to write dialogue and control the scene should be strong enough to not need the adverb. They’re also a form of telling and it’s often better to use body language description or thought to convey tone. It’s far from the end of the world to occasionally use them, but stronger writing doesn’t rely on them to get points across.
All that said, to be more descriptive, you have to know what to properly describe. Narration, particularly perspective narration like 1st and 3rd limited, are written in a way that conveys what the character experiences– which also covers the things they notice.
A character sprinting through a forest can’t describe the gleam of dew on the tiny bush leaves because they aren’t paying attention to that– they’re running. They may get smacked in the face with a dew-covered branch, but they’re probably going to focus more on how the dew feels as they continue sprinting, or more likely why they’re running and how the forest is a blur, as opposed to the visual details of that branch. The amount of words used to describe anything mimics the time that the narrator spends paying attention.
And that’s why description should rarely come in a giant block. Part of scene setting can require a few paragraphs and that’s okay, but if your narrator is in the middle of a conversation, adding a paragraph about how the other character looks is going to make it seem like your narrator is zoning out and just staring at them. Instead, weave the descriptors throughout the scene and only note things that matter to give context.
This older post also has some information on managing description: Detail and Description in Writing: The Law of Conservation of Detail
Description is an element of writing where amount varies per writing style, so there isn’t a set “best amount”, but you want to make sure that you’re giving concrete images to the reader. Concrete images are often left out when a writer relies on telling, or summarizing.
Good luck with your description!
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