Writer Unleashed

#141: Four Guidelines For Writing Dazzling Description


Listen Later

Description can enrich your story with layers of atmosphere and authenticity that drops the reader inside the world of your story.

But sometimes writers assume that in order to create a world for the reader to inhabit, they must pile on loads of details. 

You may be writing fantasy, or historical fiction, where the setting is unfamiliar or foreign to the reader.  So, description is necessary. But how much description is the right amount? 

When does it become overwhelming to the reader?

Too much description, especially when it's wasteful, can bog readers down and make them confused about what what they should pay attention to, and what's mere ornamentation.

If you don't select what goes into your description, it will strike the reader as arbitrary or gratuitous.

So, the question is...

What goes into your descriptions? And what stays out?

What's the criteria?

In this episode, I'm going to give you four criteria to help you write dazzling descriptions that create vivid, lasting impressions on readers.

Episode Website




Most first drafts don't stall because writing is hard. They stall because there's a weak link in the foundation. The Story Clarity Worksheet helps you find it. Download yours free at nancipanuccio.com/clarity

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Writer UnleashedBy Nanci Panuccio

  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5

5

26 ratings


More shows like Writer Unleashed

View all
Helping Writers Become Authors by K.M. Weiland

Helping Writers Become Authors

1,012 Listeners

More or Less by BBC Radio 4

More or Less

863 Listeners

Pivot by New York Magazine

Pivot

9,724 Listeners

The Creative Penn Podcast For Writers by Joanna Penn

The Creative Penn Podcast For Writers

630 Listeners

The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience by Kelton Reid

The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience

226 Listeners

Pod Save America by Pod Save America

Pod Save America

87,868 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

113,121 Listeners

Writer's Routine by Dan Simpson

Writer's Routine

313 Listeners

The Bulwark Podcast by The Bulwark

The Bulwark Podcast

12,741 Listeners

Fiction Writing Made Easy | Top Creative Writing Podcast for Fiction Writers & Writing Tips by Savannah Gilbo

Fiction Writing Made Easy | Top Creative Writing Podcast for Fiction Writers & Writing Tips

1,477 Listeners

The Shit No One Tells You About Writing by Bianca Marais, Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra

The Shit No One Tells You About Writing

786 Listeners

The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

The Ezra Klein Show

16,525 Listeners

Offline with Jon Favreau by Crooked Media

Offline with Jon Favreau

2,328 Listeners

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel by James Thayer

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel

430 Listeners

Writers on Writing by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett and Marrie Stone

Writers on Writing

93 Listeners