Description tends to create large blocks of text, which can be off-putting or exhausting. Spend more time and words on the moments or details that impact your story. The shape of Nana Vase’s mouth and where she puts her hands not only show what she looks like but also how she’s feeling. Instead, only the features important to the reader’s understanding of this moment are described. Her mouth thins to a pink lipsticked line, and her hands move to her padded hips.Įvery nuance of Nana Vase’s physical description isn’t covered in this example. Nana Vase doesn’t actually stomp into the living room, but her presence has a way of thundering into a space when she’s irked. Description is what transports your reader from their armchair to your story. Use description to bring the details that impact and build your story to life. If you are in a scene where your characters are developing or deepening or your plot is advancing or your world is developing, you should have description. Because dialogue adds white space, shooting for a roughly equal balance between dialogue and description is a good goal for most stories.ĭescription immerses your reader in your story, so the ideal times to use it are the moments you want your reader to fully experience. Pages filled with text are exhausting mentally and physically that is why writers use paragraph breaks. It also gives your reader’s eyes a break. The reader feels like they are reading feaster because they are turning the page more often. Each new line of dialogue is a new paragraph, therefore, the words on the page are spread out more. All from just two lines of dialogue.ĭialogue also adds white space to the page. A reader can also see the difference in age, who is in charge, and how each character is feeling. “James Allen Vase, you put that down right now,” Nana Vase orders.įrom these two lines of dialogue, a reader can tell Jimmy is motivated to keep playing while Nana Vase wants him to stop. Here’s an example of two characters interacting through dialogue: It shows how they feel about each other, how much they trust one another, what their motivations are, whether or not they’re lying, and more. Speech is one of the most powerful ways your characters interact with each other. Is more than one character present? Then you likely need dialogue.
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