When I first started writing I was HEAVILY influenced by the authors I’d read (Virginia Henley, Kathleen Woodiwiss, Johanna Lindsey). I wanted to write those kinds of books because I loved their sweeping worlds and larger than life heroes.
The first time I put pencil to paper I was fifteen/sixteen years old. I wrote a pirate adventure for a creative writing class in high school. This was a romance ‘novel’…all fifty pages of it. 
Bless my teacher’s heart for having the decency to encourage (A-) a student who turned the project in a week late.
Why am I remembering that now? Because I realized something when I was editing my older EC books for paperback production. Somewhere along the line I seem to have lost most of my descriptive abilities. I think this diminishing effect directly corresponds with the introduction of writing rules into my life.
Now I admit my earlier work is quite ‘flowery’ in some places. (Like I said, I thought I was going to write historicals and you can tell. Unfortunately, the pendulum has swung too far back the other direction. I now have a VERY difficult time adding description beyond the cursory. I believe that’s one of the biggest hurdles I have in writing single titles. I keep getting cleaner and cleaner with my writing, which translates into being shorter and shorter.
I’m currently trying to figure out how to turn this habit around, so that my books are longer than…oh let’s say…a page. ;-P I’ve read loads of description books. Some I’ve found very helpful. Yet, when I sit down to write, I don’t tend to incorporate the ideas. I don’t think it helps that as a reader I skip most descriptive passages. I want to be perfectly clear here. I’m not talking about adding pages and pages of description to pad the book. I’m talking about a balanced level of description to deepen the story.
So I’m curious, if you’re one of those writers who tend to be long on the description, do you like writing it because you enjoy reading it? Do you think about it at all when you’re writing a story? If you’re one of those writers that have a difficult time adding description, how do you balance out the lack of description with the need for word count?
I also have a question for readers. Do you enjoy reading descriptive passages or do you skim them?
August 15th, 2005
I began my writing career doing screenplays. The transition to novels was tough because of the descriptions. My editor still has to prompt me to add descriptions because I tend to be so spare. I’d like to be able to write them more effectively. It’s something I deal with on each book.
by Jo Leigh August 15th, 2005 at 12:25 pmYa know… I don’t think I’m descriptive at all, but I’ve been told that I am. Don’t know what’s up with that. As a reader, I dislike long descriptive paragraphs and I skim/skip them. Tell me the story. Let me build my own world.
by Sylvia Day August 15th, 2005 at 12:36 pmi skim to much heavy description
by del August 15th, 2005 at 12:59 pmJo, It’s nice to know I’m not alone. It’s like trying to make a stone bleed…or is it my forehead??? *ggg*
by Jordan August 15th, 2005 at 2:53 pmSylvia, You do a great job with balancing description with storytelling. It’s after reading your work that I realize how LITTLE I do.
by Jordan August 15th, 2005 at 2:54 pmDel, I do the same thing. If it’s over two paragraphs, I start to skim.
by Jordan August 15th, 2005 at 2:55 pmI love description and I wouldn’t say I use it sparingly but I don’t over-do either because people lose interest. People have shorter attention spans and it slows the pace.
by Suzanne August 15th, 2005 at 3:36 pmSuzanne, I have to find a happy medium. I’m just not sure what it’s going to take to do so. Hmm…
by Jordan August 15th, 2005 at 4:41 pmAs a reader I’m not a big fan of description either…well, unless its integral to the plot. When Stephen King describes a chair (or whatever) you know to pay attention b/c there is something wrong with that chair *BWAAAAAH* Sometimes in romance, especially in historical romance, you see writers describing setting that has nothing to do with anything. Providing enough setting to convince the reader they are “there” is a good thing, but uggh…there IS such a thing as too much of a good thing!! This is all a terribly long way of saying I’m probably skimpy on details in my writing simply b/c I don’t like to read them. But, hey, different strokes for different folks I guess.
by Jaid Black August 15th, 2005 at 5:38 pmJaq and Dream EXCEL at description and make it look effortless, too boot–me? I suck at it. Probably cuz I hate reading it too. Yes I’m a skimmer =\
by Cece August 15th, 2005 at 5:39 pmJaid, That’s pretty much how I am. I’m more interested in what the characters are doing than the location. I do point out the location if it’s going to play a huge part in the scene.
by Jordan August 15th, 2005 at 8:15 pmCece, Sylvia is great at it too. I can do it pretty well, IF I take some time to think about it. (That’s a big IF.)
by Jordan August 15th, 2005 at 8:16 pmJordan, today’s market calls for cleaner books. Much of the description that was the norm before would be called too wordy today. So I think you’re just adapting to the times.
by Trace August 16th, 2005 at 7:18 amI have to go back and add description…it’s something my editor commented on before I sold. When I’m writing, my head is deep into the characters and what’s going ON, not what the heck the couch looks like. lol
As a reader, I appreciate brief descriptions. A paragraph max. If it goes on and on, I skip it.
by Amy August 16th, 2005 at 8:26 amI’m middle of the road. I don’t like a novel to read like a screenplay, but I don’t want it to read like it was written by James Fennimore Cooper, either. When I write, I like to use enough description to have a good sense of place and what’s going on. When I read, I like to have enough detail to feel like I’m there but not pages and pages of it with nothing happening. I think it’s a balance, like everything else. You mentioned Lindsay and Woodiweiss; both do beautiful descriptions without overdoing it, although maybe the reason I haven’t liked their latest books is because they’ve cut the description down. I should re-read and see.
by Charlene August 16th, 2005 at 9:24 amI’ll admit it. I skim descriptives. Guilty as charged. For me, I feel like they invade the story.
by Peggy August 16th, 2005 at 9:54 amThanks, Trace! I hope that you’re right.
by Jordan August 16th, 2005 at 10:37 amAmy, I’m the same way. I haven’t had either editor tell me I needed to add more descriptive detail, but my agent has mentioned it. (wg)
by Jordan August 16th, 2005 at 10:38 amCharlene, I strive to be middle of the road with descriptions. I still start to skim if a descriptive passage goes over three paragraphs. As for Woodiwiss and Lindsey, I haven’t read them in quite a few years, but their older books ARE on my keeper shelf.
by Jordan August 16th, 2005 at 10:41 amPeggy, I do too, unless they’re VERY well done. (seamless)
by Jordan August 16th, 2005 at 10:42 amI totally skim…no attention span whatsoever
by Anonymous August 16th, 2005 at 11:21 amNothing wrong with that. LOL!
by Jordan August 16th, 2005 at 3:49 pmDefinitively skip descriptive passages! Give me well-written dialogues any time. I’m capable of finding some much about the characters through them. Sadly, I don’t read that many novels in which the dialogues flow. They’re always interrupted with boring explanations and deep thoughts. Ugh!
by Silma August 17th, 2005 at 6:20 pmSilma, I hear you, but unfortunately agents and editors call for those things in books. (Not long passages of description, but the internal musings and minor explanations.) Believe me, I know that one firsthand. :-/
by Jordan August 17th, 2005 at 10:38 pmI like descriptions in older books (Balzac, anyone?), but I tend to skip them in contemporary genre fiction - I don’t know why, perhaps because lengthy descriptions don’t fit our time, or because few writers can put off a long description that is not boring… I know I can’t. I belong to the club who has to go back and add stuff in, but since I edit while I go I usually do it when I’ve finished the scene, or even a few paragraphs.
by Gabriele August 25th, 2005 at 12:21 pm