Description Tip: Making “Sense” of Your Characters

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

I’ll be honest—description is my least favorite thing to write. I always have to do a revision pass specifically to add more description, and I have critique partners whose job it is to whack me with the description stick when I slack off. Because of this, I’ve created little games to make it more fun for me.

If you have a similar distaste (or you’re just looking for fun tips to help with description), try this:

1. Pick a sense. Or for random fun, use a random number generator and pick one the five: (1) Sight (2) Smell (3) Hearing (4) Touch (5) Taste. [If you use dice, try adding a “sixth” sense for intuition]

2. Pick a scene in your novel. What’s the dominant emotion in that scene?

3. Now edit the scene for the chosen sense, based on the dominant emotion.

For example: If you picked smell, and the dominant scene emotion is joy, then think about all the smells that are associated with joy. Look at the scene and ask:

• What in the scene smells joyful?
• What smells would make the POV character feel happy or think about something joyous?
• What smells would the POV character notice only because of this emotion?
• What unpleasant smells would be judged favorably because of the emotion? Such as, a normally icky smell makes the POV character happy instead.
• Why would smell be the thing the POV character notices most in this scene? (Could speak to something in the character’s backstory)
• What joyous smells might affect the POV character in a negative way? Such as the joy of others makes her unhappy or angry.

Looking at a scene with a particular sense + emotion combo in mind encourages us to think more creatively about what we describe. It’s not just the same basic “what’s there” details, but unique elements that bring the scene to life in a memorable way. It also helps us layer the senses, since most of the time sight is the number one sense used for description.

(Here’s more on identifying where your description is holding your back)

Optional Ways to Mix it Up

Choose the least obvious or least likely sense to work in that scene: If the scene takes place outside at night, sight would probably be the hardest sense to work with. But thinking about what someone would actually see in the dark, or how they’re trying to see, could craft an interesting scene if we pull out unusual details.

Choose the opposite emotion: If the dominant emotion for the scene is joy, what if the POV character saw the scene from a sad or miserable standpoint? (Obviously this will only work on scenes where the contradiction fits the scene).

Pick two emotions and/or senses: If the scene is emotionally charged, try doubling up on the senses. For an extra challenge, pick contradictory emotions or senses and play off the contrasts.

Have fun with your descriptions and look for ways to make them about more than what something looks like. Not only will it be more fun for you to write, but you just might add a unique and compelling aspect to a scene.

How do you feel about description? Do you write it first, last, or as needed? Who are your favorite descriptive authors or novels?


Find out more about setting and description in my book, Fixing Your Setting & Description Problems.

Go step-by-step through setting and description-related issues, such as weak world building, heavy infodumping, told prose, awkward stage direction, inconsistent tone and mood, and overwritten descriptions. Learn how to analyze your draft, spot any problems or weak areas, and fix those problems.

With clear and easy-to-understand examples, Fixing Your Setting & Description Problems offers five self-guided workshops that target the common issues that make readers stop reading. It will help you:

• Choose the right details to bring your setting and world to life
• Craft strong descriptions without overwriting
• Determine the right way to include information without infodumping
• Create compelling emotional layers that reflect the tone and mood of your scenes
• Fix awkward stage direction and unclear character actions

Fixing Setting & Description Problems starts every workshop with an analysis to pinpoint problem areas and offers multiple revision options in each area. You choose the options that best fit your writing process. It's an easy-to-follow guide to crafting immersive settings and worlds that draw readers into your story and keep them there.

Available in paperback and ebook formats.

Janice Hardy is the award-winning author of the teen fantasy trilogy The Healing Wars, including The Shifter, Blue Fire, and Darkfall from Balzer+Bray/Harper Collins. The Shifter, was chosen for the 2014 list of "Ten Books All Young Georgians Should Read" from the Georgia Center for the Book.

She also writes the Grace Harper urban fantasy series for adults under the name, J.T. Hardy.

When she's not writing novels, she's teaching other writers how to improve their craft. She's the founder of Fiction University and has written multiple books on writing.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes | Indie Bound