Thursday, May 29, 2014

Invitation to Another World

A couple neophyte writers told me recently they weren’t going to make the “mistake” of including description in their books.

I asked were they intent on writing novels or telegrams. They gazed at me, puzzled.

Saying description isn’t needed in a novel is as ridiculous as claiming trees are unnecessary for a forest. One of the pair immediately quoted Elmore Leonard’s dictum about leaving out the parts readers tend to skip.

He could have quoted Leonard’s Rule No. 8: Avoid detailed descriptions of characters. Or No. 9: Don’t go into great detail describing places and things. Note that in both cases he didn’t say avoid description.

Elmore Leonard is known for a spare style of writing that is immediate, graphic and heavy on dialogue, well suited to the tastes of those who grew up with the cinema and television. Indeed, many of his stories have been made into films. But, if you want the best of Leonard, you must read the books.

Leonard often cited Hemingway as a major influence on his style. Both cut to the chase and give us a sense of person or place in eloquent yet spare prose. Kurt Vonnegut once said every sentence should either reveal character or advance the action. This can be achieved by dialogue, showing (action) or through proper use of description.

A reader with imagination doesn’t need much to bring him or her into this other world the writer has created. Not all readers are blessed with enough imagination to gain entry to this world. That’s why we have description.

A reader once told me she didn’t need me to describe a character since her imagination allowed her to see him. What she didn’t get was that while she might imagine Johnny Depp I could have been thinking Gary Busey. The writer wants readers to see his characters, not just any character.


The important thing is to be certain you’re describing and not simply providing a laundry list of articles. Description is necessary to bring us into the story. It should be a bridge (not a barrier) between dialogue and action. Done right, it provides the poetry needed to carry us into a different world.

18 comments:

  1. Good description can be spare, but just like good poetry, the words need to be well-chosen. No novel is complete without it, nor are short stories.

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    1. Thanks, Jacqueline. You're right--like poetry.

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  2. Very helpful post, John. I've just recently started adding more description in to my stories, and got a nice comment from an editor about how I had a gift for it. Before that, I avoided much of it because I didn't want my short fiction to read like a catalog of character's clothing, cars, etc. But reading authors like Leonard and Parker made me realize how important using SOME description is. Sure, you can go over the top with it. Balance is the key, I guess.

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    1. Yep, balance is the key. Thanks for commenting, Bobbi.

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  3. And I LOVED the comment about Depp vs. Busey. LOL

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  4. Mind if I take it a step further? Anyone looking for rules and absolutes doesn't know life, doesn't know art. Reminds me of those art store gems such as "How to Draw Horses" or "How to Draw Faces." Learn to draw, period, and you can draw anything. Same goes for writing. The catch is that the learning never ends.

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  5. As usual, this blog is insightful and almost poetic at times.
    JL Greger

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  6. Very well said, John. I quote Elmore Leonard a lot in my fiction and nonfiction writing workshops -- and I love his writing. But a story without at least some description? Your last paragraph is right on. I'll be quoting that, no doubt, in future classes.

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    1. Thanks, Eileen. I would say Elmore is my favorite. But reading him is always a learning experience.

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  7. John, I agree, and also with the comments above. I think of action, dialogue, description and inner events as devices. Overusing any device is bad. Having one go on for too long is bad. Instead, prose needs to be a plaiting of all these devices, so that they disappear, allowing the reader to become immersed in the story. That's why I get very impatient with writers who show off with clever language. Sure, I might admire the turn of phrase, but it has destroyed the creation of reality, the suspension of disbelief.
    :)
    Bob

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    1. As Leonard puts it, when it sounds like writing...

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  8. Really enjoyed this post AND the comments. Here's to building the bridge, not the barrier!

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  9. Thanks, Nancy. Glad you liked it.

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