Writing Wedesdays - Description

Anna is very busy and tied up with finishing school, so I'm going to take over her posts for the next week. (Or however long it takes her to finish.)

Welcome! *waves* Today I'm going to write a bit about description. To be honest, description is something I need to work on in my writing journey. It's hard to write and can be boring to read if the author goes on and on and on and on and on and.... Well, you get the point. A couple days ago, two of my author/blogger friends and I had a conversation about description. They had some great insights on this topic and I'll be discussing some ways you can improve your description and how it helps you.

1. Find a Balance

"Do I need more dialogue or description?"
"Which one is better?"
"What does the reader want?"

First of all, you don't have to get it perfect the first time. Some authors need to go over their drafts multiple times to get it to it's final state.
Every writer has their own style. Some go heavy on description; I tend to not do that. I get by with the bare minimum and only describe what's essential to that scene.
Then there's dialogue. I have a lot of that in my writings. Too much chatter is, well, too much chatter. (Unless your character is naturally very talkative. Then go for it! :)
Find a balance of both in your writing. It will work out the best then.

2. What Will Your Character Notice?

Yet another wonderful tip a fellow blogger pointed out to me. What will your character notice? Is he/she very observant, or does he/she not really care at all about their surroundings? Don't talk about the precise detail in a butterfly's wings if your character isn't even remotely interested in butterflies, let alone their patterns. Maybe your character is obsessed with accents, and notices the slight drawl of a southerner. Describe through your character's eyes.

3. Unnecessary Description

If there's something in the scene that is completely irrelevant to the story... You don't need to put in in there. Green lizard five feet away? Keep it five feet away, readers don't need to know about it. *shivers*

Thanks Bluebelle and Athelas for discussing this topic with me! You both provided some awesome helpful hints :)

Do you have any other pointers or thoughts on description? Comment below!