I tend to leave out description. When I'm in a first draft, I'll write, "the Nightlight was a dark, smoky club," and go straight to dialogue. I really have to make an effort to write, "A wall of smoke and noise assaulted his senses when he walked into the Nightlight. He hadn't smoked in years, so the reek of cigarettes and pot grated on his sinuses and brought tears to his eyes. He looked across the room to make sure the sound he heard really was a guitar solo, and not someone running a garden rake over chalkboard."
I think I do this because I spent most of my adult life reading, acting, and directing stage plays, in which there is no description. Instead, you get "Scene 1: Nightclub. Andy: Can we go outside? I am about to heave, and I can't hear myself think." Cut to the chase, as they say in Hollywood, or so I'm told.
Still, if I'm going to write fiction, I have to write description. The questions are when to include it and how much. There is no rule about this, although Stephen King lays down some good rules of thumb, (On Writing, pp. 173-180). I've decided to answer this question by reading books I like and noticing how those authors have answered these questions.
The Brown Bag Mystery Readers at The Mechanics Institute Library recently discussed D is for Deadbeat by Sue Grafton. In the discussion, one reader said she likes K is for Killer. Grafton's conversational voice makes the reading a pleasure, and she's not afraid to take a few paragraphs or pages to let her sleuth, Kinsey Milhone, describe the scenery. It feels leisurely, but I'm with her all the way.
I think I do this because I spent most of my adult life reading, acting, and directing stage plays, in which there is no description. Instead, you get "Scene 1: Nightclub. Andy: Can we go outside? I am about to heave, and I can't hear myself think." Cut to the chase, as they say in Hollywood, or so I'm told.
Still, if I'm going to write fiction, I have to write description. The questions are when to include it and how much. There is no rule about this, although Stephen King lays down some good rules of thumb, (On Writing, pp. 173-180). I've decided to answer this question by reading books I like and noticing how those authors have answered these questions.
The Brown Bag Mystery Readers at The Mechanics Institute Library recently discussed D is for Deadbeat by Sue Grafton. In the discussion, one reader said she likes K is for Killer. Grafton's conversational voice makes the reading a pleasure, and she's not afraid to take a few paragraphs or pages to let her sleuth, Kinsey Milhone, describe the scenery. It feels leisurely, but I'm with her all the way.
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