  Short Stories
This week: Description as a Writing Tool Edited by: Jay's debut novel is out now!  
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This issue:
Description as a Writing Tool
Make the best use of your descriptions to help your reader be immersed in your story!
What sort of descriptions do you like as a reader? How about as a writer? Are they different for you? |
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Using description to build character is an easy way to help your reader feel immersed in the story they're reading.
It's easy, though, for a writer to feel overwhelmed by the possibilities here. Incorporate too much detail and the story loses momentum--and when you're writing a short story, every bit of forward motion matters. Not incorporating enough detail, though, can leave your readers feeling lost and unable to relate with your characters.
For me, I've found that the kinds of character descriptions that work the best are the ones where you can demonstrate a broader sense of who the character is outside the context of the story. The easiest way to demonstrate the complexity of a person, to give them an inner life, is to find little ways to show contradictions between words and deeds. We all know the joke about a bald barber or a skinny chef, right? Those are a bit more in the category of a stereotype, which we don't want, but it's easy to think of obvious contradictions that show character. A cardiologist who smokes.
Unexpected details (not necessarily contrary) also work well for illustrating the rich inner life of a character. Think about what you might expect from a certain kind of character. Maybe a stay-at-home mom who loves working on her vintage muscle car in the garage when she's not chasing toddlers around the house. Think about how your expectations about what a person is like will shift when you know more about them. (This is where borrowing little things from your real life and twisting them into your fiction works really well! Real people are full of little contradictions and unexpected hobbies and interests.)
Interests, in general, are a great point of character, especially when they're specific! Everyone has something that they're passionate about, in life, and this can make someone immensely relateable, even when it's not something the reader is passionate about.
Descriptors that I've found don't work well often rely on stereotypes and bad jokes, as I mentioned earlier. A character can become a caricature which is too rigid and inflexible to be real if their entire personality hinges on one bad stereotype. It doesn't necessarily have to be a joke, either, it could be any kind of extreme character created, usually through a lack of empathy or understanding. Don't guess at what a person might be like--use real people that you know, and make sure that the reader can relate with them.
Use those realistic details to make characters lifelike through the situations you have placed them in; use good setting details to corroborate character design. If you don't know how something works, find out! Never worked in a coffeeshop? The Internet is full of people who have. Getting the little things right helps immerse the reader in the worlds you have created!
That's all I have for this month!
Until next time,
Take care and Write on!
~jay |
This issue's picks!
| | Moss [13+] #1983608
Entry for the Re-Write contest, a story with a main character who is a gnome
by Joy  |
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Because I was ill last month, I missed my last newsletter, but I'm eager for any questions you might have!
Please let me know if there's something about the craft of creating short stories that you are interested in and I will see if it works as a topic in an upcoming newsletter or as a Q&A topic for this section right here!
Thanks! |
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Short Stories: November 09, 2016 Issue [#7961]
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