Write descriptions that bring a book to life, not put a reader to sleep

Description can make your book come alive.

And yes, “can” is the operative word there – because too much of it, or the wrong kind of it, will have the reverse effect on your reader.

Author Kristen Lamb was reminded of that recently while listening to a book that handled description poorly.

So she used it as an education opportunity for her fellow writers.

Lamb begins her post with the don’ts — avoid anything that could be referred to as a police sketch, map, weather report, or information dump.

And then she continues with examples of descriptions done well from published literature.

Check out her tips on effective description in fiction on her blog.

Related posts 

• Does your novel overexplain common items and gestures? 

• How authors CAN edit their own manuscripts