Writing Tip

[WhiteFeather]

I want to ask how to write good description, and how much is too much?

 

[Tempokai]

Paul Grice (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

 

[John_Owl]

I want to ask how to write good description, and how much is too much?

That depends. character, item, place, etc?

Also, how important is the thing being described to the story? If it's just a minor little detail, likely okay to leave it out. if it's a major plotpoint, then best to include it and trim later if needed. Just like in painting, what you DON'T show is just as important as what you do. You only need every minor little detail if you're trying to do photorealistic. But if you're okay with just conveying the idea, then just worry about broad strokes. IF you're writing an encyclopedia, then you want as close to realistic as possible. In narratives, that just gets in the way.

As an example, here's a description of a monster I just did:
The thing looked like a half-melted puddle of ice cream, with folds and rolls undulating as it moved around, dissolving various plant matter, fungi, and other such things.

Slimes are useful among tamers for their ravenous appetites and ease of feeding - they're happy whether you feed them gourmet meals, have them clean dishes, or even feed them literal trash. They were slow to grow, being more likely to multiply than evolve. That said, they are also feared among adventurers for devouring their equipment.

Many people have reported being stripped bare by slimes that were more powerful than they had expected. Some even reported mild acid-like burns on their flesh. Fortunately, the only deaths reported were children and the elderly. Even an untrained farmer can handle a slime or two without losing their life.

(Keep in mind, my use of the word "fortunately" here is in character, as it's a 1st POV, so that's how the character views slimes)

 

[Rhaps]

Ah, this problem.

For important character - give detailed description

For plot arc characters - give 2 sentences and a unique appearance description.

For NPC - one line, maybe you can point out the culture with their clothes or manner of speech if MC enter a new place.

For location - point out the landmarks but don't dive too deeply until they become important to the plot.

 

[LewdWhisperer]

I want to ask how to write good description, and how much is too much?

You gotta study the craft, man. It's not an end all be all. It's vague and all too subjective.

What I like to do is take my favorite writer's work. Hand copy for 10-20 minutes, reread it, to try and understand the subject matter. The way they paced the sentences, the length of those sentences, what they hope to accomplish within a few sets of words. It's hard to express this, when you don't have an intellectual mind, but I'll try.

Start with a topic, you want to expand on.

White feather wanted to know, how to write a description and how much verbiage and purple flare is excessive.

Kinda boring. Of course, perfectively digestible for the average web novel reader.

Instead.

Whitefeather. Eager to improve. Posted a small plea for help to community, hoping that he'll sharpen his pen by the end of the day. The caption of the post titled. "Writing Tip." He hoped to draw in some readers, some experience authors, to expand his horizons. Fingers at his keyboard, he waited in anticipation, his fingers tapping against the hollow wood of his desk. One click, then another, he refreshes, but stops, no reply. Not yet.

Writing is weird, man. It's vague, and technNIkuhLY~There are no proper rules. Making something sound good is a hell of a task. You will not please everyone. It's all about what you wanna portray, that's why I like stream of conscious style writing, I can just ramble on.

You gotta think about character voice, perspective, feelings, emotions, actions, intent, visceral imagery, coherency, tight lines, pacing. And so much more. The best possible thing you can do is read a well written book daily. Slow yourself down, study the sentences.

For webnovel's either be as purple as a primrose or be easy to read, fun, flashy, straight to the point. Or learn to blend and mix and paint and suffer and triumph.

So all in all. READ. And not just Webserial slop.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

So all in all. READ. And not just Webserial slop.

In fact, at least if it comes to audionovels, apparently too much description is WORSE than too little...

 

[LewdWhisperer]

In fact, at least if it comes to audionovels, apparently too much description is WORSE than too little...

Have you listened to a litrpg level up in a audiobook? It can drive you literally insane.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Have you listened to a litrpg level up in a audiobook? It can drive you literally insane.

My wife started with My Vampire System, which is pretty close to LitRPG (may be "mere" GameLit + System?)...

But I'm already insane so it didn't bother me.