A solid plot is no good if you can't describe the physical environment and characters to which the plot is happening. Writing descriptively adds a third dimension to a story, which can't be skipped. Your reader needs to feel like they're in the same situation as the character, so when the plot plays out it's dramatic.
Start with the senses. What is your character hearing, tasting, seeing, smelling and touching? You can use similes- E.g. the surface was as cold as/like her expression or metaphors- E.g. it was a stampede of footsteps. As well as vibrant adjectives creating a three dimensional scene with colour, texture, sound, smell and taste.
The ability to lay out a scene with description tends to be used more at the start of a story to familiarise a reader with a characters and surroundings. Obviously then, as the story progresses, you wouldn't need to describe the same room, building or appearance of a character.
Descriptive writing requires creativity and imagination. Instead of 'suddenly', why not say 'rapidly'? Avoid using the same words repeatedly. Synonyms are words that are different from each other but have the same meaning. To avoid repeating the same descriptive vocabulary, you could google 'pain synonyms' for example. This way you could end up using a much emotive word like 'agony'. Using a variety of descriptive words will explain your characters surroundings in multiple different ways, giving the audience a front seat view. Therefore, description should be creative, vibrant, creating tension and intrigue.
So, if description is so great, can it atill be overused? Yes. As with anything in writing, there needs to be a balance. If a whole chapter describes a single place or person but nothing happens, the chapter is essentially irrelevant to the plot. There needs to be a divide between description and action. If I was going to put a number on it, at the start of a story the description should probably be 2/3 but by the end you could decrease it to 1/3 a chapter as the plot intensifies and the reader becomes familiar with the location and appearance of your characters. Saying that, writing more descriptively fits my own writing style, suggesting this is adaptable.
Either way, description is a very important factor in creative writing, that shouldn't be overused, but definitely not underused.
Do you prefer writing description or action?
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The Guide to Wattpad (& Creative Writing)
Non-FictionFrom 2013 this Wattpad Guide has offered writers like you helpful writing tips & techniques, through 60+ chapters, to raise your exposure and writing ability.
