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Craft of Writing

Donna Sundblad

Artistically Concise and Balanced

How do you hone skills needed to paint three-dimensional images with fewer words? As a writer, you don't want characters walking around in a vacuum or swallowed by descriptive details. Learning to add authentic realism to your writing without bogging down the flow with unnecessary description can be a bit of a balancing act. I’ve included two exercises I initiated in my endeavor to find that equilibrium.

The One-Sentence Rule
One morning I stepped outside to go for an early walk. The breathtaking sunrise captured my attention. Fiery orange embers smoldered across the horizon silhouetting the battalion of pines across the street.

Note the two previous sentences. One tells and one shows. That morning's walk changed my thinking. I asked myself how I would “show” that sky in one sentence. While I walked, I considered the possibilities. I wanted to create a veritable snapshot my readers could see. When I walked in the door, I scribbled the first draft of my sentence on paper and challenged myself to follow the one-sentence rule for a week. Each day for a week, I drew in a dose of reality and condensed it to one sentence.

This technique birthed a new habit. It changed my thinking and transformed my writing. Bite-size real world elements added savor and life to my scenes without overloading them with excess or telling description.

Keep a journal. Log your sentences to practice and sharpen this technique. Experiment with different elements in the world. Another basic to add to your lists of One Sentence Rule exercises is to explore body language. Instead of telling your readership your character looked amused, stand in front of the mirror and practice “the look” to help capture the physiological detail necessary to convey the facial response you want to convey.

Avoid Dumping Content
Writing is like paving a road while offering directions to follow it. It should be designed to take the readers where you want them to go while gathering necessary information along the way to make the trip interesting. Mix scenic description with dialog and action. It’s the natural way to collect information.

Avoid writing paragraphs of description to set the scene. Readers are known for flipping through pages to find something that snags their interest. Think of it like this. A dump truck carrying a load of information stops along the road you’ve paved into the reader's imagination and stops to dump the entire load in one spot. If the pile is big, the reader veers to avoid it. If you’ve slipped an important detail amid that load of otherwise uninteresting or irrelevant content, your reader may miss a vital detail that later helps the storyline and plot to make sense.

Another no-no is using dialog to dump information. Instead, dialog should reflect a natural exchange between characters. If you want to use conversation to offer the reader specific information, make sure it sounds natural and not contrived for the sole purpose of adding detail necessary to move the plot forward.

Adding Your Two Sense
This "Attention to Detail" exercise can be found in chapter 3 of my writing book, Pumping Your Muse.

Saunter down the street or go sit on a park bench, but I suggest at least part of this exercise take place in an outdoor setting. Pay special attention to what you hear and smell. Take fifteen minutes to listen and catalog your findings. Don't worry about describing them right now; just get them down on paper. Do it all at once or five minutes at a time, but write down your observations. I chose to do two five-minute segments outdoors and one at home.