some things I've learned about descriptions from googling 'how to describe things'

Something I'm learning from this current draft of Robbing Centaurs and Other Bad Ideas is that I'm really bad at descriptions. I underdescribe, I overdescribe, I put in confusing visuals, my sentences are awkward... I'm just really bad at descriptions. And now that I think about it, descriptions are something that have always been really frustrating for me to try to write. I can picture all these cool places and ideas, but I have no idea how to make the reader see and feel them the way I do. It's probably one of the most frustrating parts of writing for me.

Therefore, after seeing all the notes from my sweet editor on descriptions that could be improved, I did a hearty bit of googling on how to write descriptions. This is what I found. 

Give the description a flow. Your MC spots another character in the room. What do they notice first, and why? What do they notice after that? Don't just say 'their hair was black and their eyes were blue', that doesn't work and has no flow. Think about why you're describing the character the way you are.

The words you use gives the description a certain tone. Use that to your advantage. What kind of impression do you want to give the readers? Use adjectives and verbs that give the readers that impression. For example, if you want the study to be dark and creepy, tell me that the bookcases towered over them and the doorway in the back of the study gaped at them. If you want the character to seem sad, tell me that her eyes were dark and cloudy and that her clothes clung to her like an only friend. (yeah i know that made me cringe too but hey it's just an example)

Remind us what something looks like later by bringing up the most memorable parts of the appearance. Let's say the character has a silver necklace he always wears. If it's been a while since we've seen him, make sure you bring up his fingers playing with the necklace the next time he appears. It reminds the reader that this is the character who has that necklace and makes them think 'oh! I remember when I saw that last. I know why this character is relevant!'

The same thing applies to settings. Let's say the gallery in the manor has tall windows and blood-red carpets. The next time that same setting appears, remind us of the tall windows and the bright red carpets to let the audience know that yes, this is the same gallery.

Something I didn't learn in my hunt is how to use the random little bits in my brain. My brain is horribly unhelpful with describing things, and it doesn't give me sentences to describe things, just little scraps like 'glittering blue earrings' and 'dark wood desk'. I want to say I'm fully capable of using all the other tips above, even if giving the description a flow is pretty tricky, but it's the 'making little details into a full description' part that I struggle with, and I couldn't really find any posts on this topic.

I plan to do some studying of how other authors describe things, especially the authors that are really good at descriptions, and see what I learn there. Maybe it'll help. If I ever figure out how to use the little snippets of description, I'll make a later post on that, but also if anyone knows how to solve this issue or any good posts about this, I'd appreciate the resources. 

Anyway, I'm off to do other writing things, and I'll see everyone in the next post!