Is this one of your biggest issues?

Getting just right the who, where, why and what they are doing. It’s mine.Sometimes I get carried away with descriptions. Yet often, like a good perfume, a little goes a long way. A little is divine, too much, yikes. 

I’m not a visual person so describing situations or scenes is difficult for me. So I’ve invented little tricks to help myself not over think it too much. However, the downside is I end up rewriting a lot. And I do mean a lot. Sigh… I guess there really are no shortcuts.

Things that help me:

• Look up the word. The dictionary and thesaurus really can be a great source for brainstorming.
•  Have the character stop and look around. Describe what they see, smell or hear but not what they are doing.
• Write the scene like a piece of Flash Fiction. This is a good discipline in brevity. It helps me see things in a different light.
• Remind myself that my readers know what the color purple looks like. I don’t need to go crazy.
• Reading, reading and reading.

One of the best articles I’ve read lately on this subject written by RYAN LANZ. Be sure and hop over and read it for inspiration on good descriptions. Link at bottom.

I’m also now reading:

Another good resource is:

7 WAYS TO WRITE VISUALLY (WITHOUT DESCRIBING EVERYTHING) by RYAN LANZ.

Do you have any tips that can help me with writing good descriptive scenes?

Are you a visual person? Do share!

I’d love to hear from you! Click the “write me” tab or contact me on Twitter @jeancogdell, Facebook at jean.cogdell and Amazon.com, stop by and say hey! The lights are on and I’m waiting.

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