Writing.Com General Discussion

As "S" pointed out, using descriptions to build atmosphere/tone is usually good advice. And to keep them from turning into info dumps, I would focus on one or two aspects of the setting at a time, usually ones the PoV character would interact with or naturally focus on. That way, you can also sometimes use the setting descriptions to help show the characters' state of mind, doing world building and showing character simultaneously.

Another thing I like to keep at the back of my mind when doing descriptions is to focus on what makes the scene unique. A murder scene, a police station, the bar where the MC goes to get information, those can very easily feel like generic settings from any murder mystery, so what sets your scene apart. Finding one or two unique details and focusing on them can really help a lot in making the world building more interesting, IMO.