Description is a vital part of fiction writing. How much description to include depends on the type of story and the audience, but what type of description and the choice of language depends upon the viewpoint character.
Description through Character and Point of View
Three different characters see the same room in different ways. What they notice and don’t notice, and the words they use to describe it, vary according to their background.
- The effect of the room was beautiful. A Renoir masterpiece hung above the fireplace, its soft colors echoed in the thick oriental rug. A carriage clock perched on the mantle, opposite a crystal vase of orchids. The walnut Chippendale secretary gleamed in the corner, and a antique books lined the back wall.”
- She had never been in a room like that before. The furniture glowed with polish, but the little chairs didn’t look like anyone should sit in them. The painting of a ballet dancer above the fireplace had its own lights in the ceiling to shine on it. Shelves were full of graceful figurines and beautiful flowers. The magnificence was like a museum, and she was afraid to touch anything.
- He plopped onto the sofa in the boringest room he had ever seen. Pictures and vases and flowers. No TV, no video games, not even a puzzle magazine. Some lame books with more paintings on the cover were on the coffee table, but nothing worth picking up.
The reader gets a sense not only of the room, but the character as well.
Descriptive Writing Exercises
- Describe the same campsite from the viewpoint of an experienced camper, a reluctant child, and an enthusiastic city-dweller on his or her first trip.
- Describe a wheelchair-bound old man in a nursing home from the viewpoint of a teenager, his devoted daughter, his estranged daughter, and the nurse.
- Describe a run-down part of town from the viewpoint of a contented resident, a resident desperate to leave, and an out-of-town visitor.
- Describe an office from the viewpoint of a tired secretary, a secretary on her first day at work, and a secretary on her last day of work before retiring.
- Describe the same interior of a car from the viewpoint of a prospective buyer, a husband getting into his wife’s car, and a person coming home from a hospital stay.
- Describe your own living room from your own viewpoint. Then try it from the viewpoint of your spouse, your mother, your best friend, and your boss (or spouse’s boss).
The point of the descriptive exercises is to practice putting a character’s slant on what you describe in your story. Unless you use a totally omniscient point of view, what you include in the description will depend on what is important to your character.
For another type of practice, read Descriptive Writing Exercises and Character Voice Writing Exercises.
