Jill Williamson is a chocolate loving, daydreaming, creator of kingdoms. She writes weird books in lots of weird genres like fantasy (Blood of Kings and Kinsman Chronicles), science fiction (Replication), and dystopian (The Safe Lands trilogy). She’s currently writing a post-apocalyptic book with all of you called THIRST in conjunction with the #WeWriteBooks series. Find Jill on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or on her author website, where you can read THIRST.
Welcome back!
It’s week twenty-one of the #WeWriteBooks Wednesdays series, where we are writing books together. How are you doing? I have been posting a new chapter each week of Thirst on my author blog. Click here to read them.
Goal Check
I am almost done! I missed posting the week of OYAN. I just couldn’t keep up. And then I started posting on Tuesdays rather than Mondays because I needed the extra day. But I’ve managed to keep this thing going. THIRST is currently at 79,075 words. I think I’m three chapters away from the end.
So. Excited.
Let me confess, however, that the book is feeling a little meh. For those of you reading it, perhaps you’ve noticed this. It’s unsurprising, really. This is a first draft, and while I try to clean it up as best I can so that you all can read it. It’s still a first draft. And remember what I say about first drafts?
I give myself permission to stink.
I’m trying to do better than stink with THIRST. But the story does have some issues that will need to be dealt with when I rewrite it. Can’t worry about that now, however, if I’m going to keep on schedule. So I just keep writing and posting.
I can fix it later.
Update
For a complete list of links to the posts in this series, click here.
Also, Jill has now published the Thirst Duology. To learn more about the books, click here.
Recap
Week four: maps and floorplans.
Week five: protagonists and main characters.
Week six: side characters.
Week seven: prewriting.
Week eight: plot structures.
Week nine: Theme.
Week ten: creating a plot outline or list of key scenes.
Week eleven: point of view.
Week twelve: narrative modes.
Week thirteen: how to write a scene.
Week fourteen: Where to start.
Week fifteen: Prologues.
Week sixteen: Dividing Your Book Into Chapters and Scenes Week seventeen: Write Fast and Free
Week eighteen: Dialogue and Thought
Why bother describing things? Editors and writing instructors vary on whether or not setting and characters be fully described. Some say to leave it out so that readers can imagine everything. Others say you need to paint the scene for the reader because if you describe nothing, you have what’s commonly referred to as “talking heads” floating in a black space, uttering strings of dialogue. On the other hand, if you describe too much you can pull the reader right out of the story.
I think somewhere in the middle is best. Give your reader enough details so that they know generally what the characters look like, where they are in each scene, and who is in the scene with them. Then let the reader fill in the other details however their imagination sees fit.
Tips for Writing Description
Last summer I wrote a post called 10 Tips for Tight Descriptions that says pretty much everything that I want to say today. So I decided to briefly recap that post, then add a couple more important tips.
You’re in first draft stage right now, so don’t stress about description. I rarely describe anything in my first drafts because I’m trying to write fast and I don’t care if it stinks. The goal is to get a first draft written, and description slows me down. So feel free to give yourself permission to ignore description while you’re writing your first draft. You can fix it in rewrites.
2. Only describe what’s necessary.
You don’t have to describe every little detail in your book. Things that are important to the story, however, must be described. Important location? Describe it. Magical object of great importance? Describe, please. You, as the author, know what is important and what is not. Make sure you spend your valuable words on things that matter.
3. Description should serve at least two purposes.
If you can, make your description do more than one thing. Maybe your description describes and characterizes. Or describes and shows emotion. Or it describes and reveals a clue. Don’t stress about doing this every time, but when you can, it will add depth to your story.
4. Description should be active and moving.
Pacing is important. And description tends to halt the story. Whenever possible, try to keep moving while you describe. Your character might be running or looking for something as he lets the reader know what he sees. Perhaps he is getting a tour of a building he hopes to break into later on. Whatever it is, try to match your description to the pacing and mood of the scene. Quick action should have short description. Longer descriptions fit better in a slow-paced scene.
5. Description should be memorable.
A room coated in dust that makes the character sneeze. An apartment that is filled with so much trash that your character’s foot sticks to something on the floor. Look for simple ways to create images that will stick in the reader’s memory.
6. Description should be specific.
Use specific words that tell the reader as much as possible. Like leather the color of cinnamon rather than brown. Slimy rags rather than merely wet ones.
7. Description should use the five senses.
To help you get into the habit of not forgetting the five senses, try to use one of each per chapter. Writers tend to overuse sight and forget to mention smell, sound, taste, and touch. Add these in when it feels natural.
8. Description should fit the POV character’s voice and personality.
Describe the scene through the eyes, voice, and personality of your point of view character. Focus on what interests him. Use words he would use, and avoid words he wouldn’t know. Spencer from my Mission League books would say that a doctor “took his blood pressure,” while Mason from my Safe Lands books would say “the doctor used the sphygmomanometer to measure his blood pressure.” Spencer would NEVER IN HIS LIFE remember a word as long as sphygmomanometer. He just wouldn’t care.
9. Description should convey emotion.
When it feels natural, try to work your point of view character’s emotion into your descriptions. Is your POV character happy? Annoyed? Excited? Each feeling should affect the way he sees things as he moves through a scene and should have an impact on his word choice.
10. Description should leave room for the imagination.
As I said at the beginning, don’t describe everything. Leave some room for your reader’s imagination to paint images of the characters and places. That’s part of the fun of reading.
Description Must Haves
When the time of day or the location changes, let us know! Give a quick time of day and location reminder at the start of a new scene. Something simple is all the reader needs to keep from getting lost. Something like: I reached the library just before six. Or: We walked until the sun came up and painted the rolling hills in sunshine. If time passes in your book and you forget to tell the reader, the reader will not know that time has passed. So don’t forget!
When your characters arrive at a new place, give us a quick description. Again, short and sweet is perfect, unless this is going to be something major like the haunted house in a story about a haunted house. Something like: We entered a muddy alley. Or: Her bedroom was so pink it gave me a headache.
3. Introducing new people
If an important new character enters the story, you need to give a quick description. It doesn’t always have to be what they look like. You could describe them the first time in dialogue (“See that guy who looks like David Tennant?”) or narrative (He had a face like a cabbage). This is also a great place to plant hints as to their character. What are they like? What do they mean to the protag or main characters? Where do they hang out? What is their job? What are they good at/bad at? Then describe them the first time they come on screen with at least one or two memorable, descriptive tags. (He had a face like a cabbage and was currently stuffing it with chips, holding the container of dip in his hand like it belonged to him and wasn’t part of the buffet.)
4. How many people are present?
When scenes change, early on list the important characters who are present, especially any who will have dialogue so that they don’t seem to magically appear from out of nowhere.
5. Temperature/weather?
You don’t have to share this unless it’s abnormal or important to the scene. But remember, if you don’t tell them differently, people will assume that the temperature is average and the weather is nice.
Here are some more posts that might help you:
Assignment time
Broken Trust Cover Reveal
“Life happened,” I told him.
