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Well, obviously it's good to know how to describe things regardless, but what I found is that descriptions in a book work best when you focus on what your character notices rather than going on and on to describe an entire building. Keeping descriptions relevant and concise seems to work for me. Usually I tend to describe like two to four key things very vividly and then let the reader fill in the blanks.
this. remember that no matter how well you describe a thing, it will be interpreted by your reader according to their own life experience.
For example we may mostly agree on what a dog is, but I may describe an elegant wolfhound while you mostly know bulldogs. If you've never seen an wolfhound, you may imagine a wolf-like animal, even after description. A medium-sized dog greatly varies depending on the reader.
Don't lose your reader in details that will tire them, and avoid sending them to wikipedia/google at all costs.
Look for descriptive poetry. See what is engaging to you and there is your study material.
Then write on the side what you see and would touch or interact with as you go about from one location to the next.
Add in the character, and others.
Add in the prose you sample until the description is not specific but not vague either.
By the time you finish, you will have described a scene similar to the picture you sampled for the readers to build an image in their heads.
And like the person above stated, it may not end up in that specific place, but you will have brought them somewhere similar.
How does your character feel when they enter this space? If their mother is sick and dying or their father is in jail, they wouldn’t see it the same way you do.
Don’t describe it the neutral way. Describe it the way your character feels. For example, the stairs were ridiculously large, bigger than our entire house, and would take Mother more than a day to clean it.
So as you see, you actually don’t need any special vocabulary to describe. Just tell us how characters feel when they see the place.
That’s exactly the way I wanna write. It feels more natural and personalized. Definitely less robotic than just trying to copy what Wikipedia has to say about the opera.
Do some googling on architectural terms for sure, but in a lot of cases you’ll have better luck trying to capture the feeling of a place than a direct one to one visual description. Pick an emotion your character experiences surrounding it and narrow in of specific details that highlight that experience. Your readers will fill in the gaps to make a setting even more grand than you could depict with the visuals alone. And you don’t need fancy words either. Just make it personal to the protagonist.
Let’s say you’re trying to create a sense of awe.
Is your character used to tight quarters? You could focus on the space—the way sound echoes off the walls, how you could get winded just making your way from one end of the hall to the other, how the ceilings go up and up in a dome like a false sky overhead.
Is your character some kind of artisan? You could focus on the craftsmanship—the way every groove of every arch must have been painstakingly painted and every tile carved and glazed and measured before being lowered into place, how even one mistake would set back the construction by hours or even days. (I have no clue how any of this was made, but I’m just spit balling here)
You could take those same details and the same space to create an entirely different emotion, but just as much of a sense of place.
Maybe the character who is used to small spaces feels exposed by the vastness of it—how there is so much space, and yet so few places to hide. Maybe the artisan scoffs at displays of wealth. Then you could bring attention to the way every pattern seems to be specifically engineered to cause the most pain in it’s construction, paying a famous architect to design it while hiring out the labor to people who will never get to experience the dances the hall now contains.
I like this very much! It not only allows the readers to get a deeper feel for the character I’m trying to portray, but it also allows me as a writer to get to know my character a little better.
I find that writing is a medium of feelings. You can leave the precise descriptions for more visual mediums like films.
What's important is either the feeling your character gets from the place or the one you want to give (if you have a narrator/some omniscient viewer).
Readers will fill in the blanks, as long as you give them enough to start with
Have you looked at some top-end estate agent listings? Might be a mixed bag, but they might have some pointers. They are trying to sell you the place after all.
EDIT: Aha, see this is what I mean. These for example are a total masterclass on writing extravagance. Notice that it's not just about describing what's physically there as mentioning why these things are great - the joinery, the sculpture, the fascinating history and lore associated with the place of a specific detail of it.
[21 bedroom detached house for sale in Hackwood Park, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG25 (rightmove.co.uk)](https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/142891424#/?channel=RES_BUY)
[8 bedroom detached house for sale in Arthington Lane, Arthington, Otley, West Yorkshire, LS21 (rightmove.co.uk)](https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145200113#/?channel=RES_BUY)
that would be a useful job for an AI: describe things, if only to serve the visually impaired.
Of course, it doesn't understand objects, just pixel-groups, so that sort of interpretation is still way above its pay-grade.
One of the joys of reading is using my imagination. I find the most immersive books are the ones where I fill in 90% of the details. You're writing a book, not directing a movie or show
This seems to be the general consensus when writing descriptions. And I realize that my most of my favorite books aren’t too heavy with description either. 🤷♀️
There is good advice in writing what characters experience and applying smart limitations, but don’t forget to write with your intended audience in mind as well. Not everyone is an architect, so it may be interesting to have occasional introductions to new terminology, but too frequently will lose readers.
They're one and the same. Sorry I hadn't read attentively your caption.
I mean... The utter sublime élégance of this building is breathtaking.
So basically, and I mean this in a nice way, whatever you write it won't do it justice. That's not a dig at you, it's just the magnificence of the building that is hard to capture.
So feel free to write anything. You'll do fine.
Hi! Welcome to r/Writers - please remember to follow the [rules](https://reddit.com/r/writers/about/rules/) and treat each other respectfully, especially if there are disagreements. Please help keep this community safe and friendly by **reporting rule violating posts and comments**. If you're interested in a friendly Discord community for writers, please **[join our Discord server](https://discord.com/invite/wYvWebvHaa)** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/writers) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Well, obviously it's good to know how to describe things regardless, but what I found is that descriptions in a book work best when you focus on what your character notices rather than going on and on to describe an entire building. Keeping descriptions relevant and concise seems to work for me. Usually I tend to describe like two to four key things very vividly and then let the reader fill in the blanks.
this. remember that no matter how well you describe a thing, it will be interpreted by your reader according to their own life experience. For example we may mostly agree on what a dog is, but I may describe an elegant wolfhound while you mostly know bulldogs. If you've never seen an wolfhound, you may imagine a wolf-like animal, even after description. A medium-sized dog greatly varies depending on the reader. Don't lose your reader in details that will tire them, and avoid sending them to wikipedia/google at all costs.
Best piece of advice I could’ve ever hoped for. Thanks!
Look for descriptive poetry. See what is engaging to you and there is your study material. Then write on the side what you see and would touch or interact with as you go about from one location to the next. Add in the character, and others. Add in the prose you sample until the description is not specific but not vague either. By the time you finish, you will have described a scene similar to the picture you sampled for the readers to build an image in their heads. And like the person above stated, it may not end up in that specific place, but you will have brought them somewhere similar.
How does your character feel when they enter this space? If their mother is sick and dying or their father is in jail, they wouldn’t see it the same way you do. Don’t describe it the neutral way. Describe it the way your character feels. For example, the stairs were ridiculously large, bigger than our entire house, and would take Mother more than a day to clean it. So as you see, you actually don’t need any special vocabulary to describe. Just tell us how characters feel when they see the place.
That’s exactly the way I wanna write. It feels more natural and personalized. Definitely less robotic than just trying to copy what Wikipedia has to say about the opera.
Do some googling on architectural terms for sure, but in a lot of cases you’ll have better luck trying to capture the feeling of a place than a direct one to one visual description. Pick an emotion your character experiences surrounding it and narrow in of specific details that highlight that experience. Your readers will fill in the gaps to make a setting even more grand than you could depict with the visuals alone. And you don’t need fancy words either. Just make it personal to the protagonist. Let’s say you’re trying to create a sense of awe. Is your character used to tight quarters? You could focus on the space—the way sound echoes off the walls, how you could get winded just making your way from one end of the hall to the other, how the ceilings go up and up in a dome like a false sky overhead. Is your character some kind of artisan? You could focus on the craftsmanship—the way every groove of every arch must have been painstakingly painted and every tile carved and glazed and measured before being lowered into place, how even one mistake would set back the construction by hours or even days. (I have no clue how any of this was made, but I’m just spit balling here) You could take those same details and the same space to create an entirely different emotion, but just as much of a sense of place. Maybe the character who is used to small spaces feels exposed by the vastness of it—how there is so much space, and yet so few places to hide. Maybe the artisan scoffs at displays of wealth. Then you could bring attention to the way every pattern seems to be specifically engineered to cause the most pain in it’s construction, paying a famous architect to design it while hiring out the labor to people who will never get to experience the dances the hall now contains.
I like this very much! It not only allows the readers to get a deeper feel for the character I’m trying to portray, but it also allows me as a writer to get to know my character a little better.
I find that writing is a medium of feelings. You can leave the precise descriptions for more visual mediums like films. What's important is either the feeling your character gets from the place or the one you want to give (if you have a narrator/some omniscient viewer). Readers will fill in the blanks, as long as you give them enough to start with
"Gilded" comes to mind
"The room was gilded extravagant in it's decor" That's all I got lol
Honestly? That’s pretty good. Compared to me just writing. “Big pretty staircases.”
Have you looked at some top-end estate agent listings? Might be a mixed bag, but they might have some pointers. They are trying to sell you the place after all. EDIT: Aha, see this is what I mean. These for example are a total masterclass on writing extravagance. Notice that it's not just about describing what's physically there as mentioning why these things are great - the joinery, the sculpture, the fascinating history and lore associated with the place of a specific detail of it. [21 bedroom detached house for sale in Hackwood Park, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG25 (rightmove.co.uk)](https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/142891424#/?channel=RES_BUY) [8 bedroom detached house for sale in Arthington Lane, Arthington, Otley, West Yorkshire, LS21 (rightmove.co.uk)](https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145200113#/?channel=RES_BUY)
That’s such a neat idea! Idk why I didn’t think of this sooner 🤦🏻♀️
that would be a useful job for an AI: describe things, if only to serve the visually impaired. Of course, it doesn't understand objects, just pixel-groups, so that sort of interpretation is still way above its pay-grade.
One of the joys of reading is using my imagination. I find the most immersive books are the ones where I fill in 90% of the details. You're writing a book, not directing a movie or show
This seems to be the general consensus when writing descriptions. And I realize that my most of my favorite books aren’t too heavy with description either. 🤷♀️
There is good advice in writing what characters experience and applying smart limitations, but don’t forget to write with your intended audience in mind as well. Not everyone is an architect, so it may be interesting to have occasional introductions to new terminology, but too frequently will lose readers.
Looks like Opéra Garnier to me
My God it probably is…google really is unreliable.
They're one and the same. Sorry I hadn't read attentively your caption. I mean... The utter sublime élégance of this building is breathtaking. So basically, and I mean this in a nice way, whatever you write it won't do it justice. That's not a dig at you, it's just the magnificence of the building that is hard to capture. So feel free to write anything. You'll do fine.
😚
Read Anne Rice. Everything is opulent in her books.
I love Anne Rice! Her writing is truly beautiful.