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Fictional Narrative Basics - Description
Unit Completion Date: End of Week 5
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Unlike exposition, which is supported by the strength of the narrative voice, description derives its authority from the vividness of the images presented to the reader. For this reason, it relies almost exclusively on the presentation of sensory images and associative comparisons such as similes and metaphors to evoke in the reader a sense of being present in a particular place.
Powerful description usually addresses several of the senses--sight, smell, touch, taste, hearing--providing some sense to the reader of what they might encounter in this fictional world. At base, these sensory details must meet the test of the readers' notion of verisimilitude, the sense that something could possibly be true. In the case of a realistic story, the descriptions must match the reader's understanding of the world, so if you describe the sunlight at noon as lime green, your reader (depending on how critical he is) may say to himself, That's not right. What is this author thinking? This is the point at which you will have broken the reader's vivid and continuous dream, and have him thinking about you and your writing skills rather than the characters and what they are going through.
Pick a section of the story you are drafting at least 150 words long that you consider particularly descriptive. First, type it out as you'd written it originally, noting how many of the five senses you address. Then go back and rewrite the passage to include as many of the other senses as you can. This will probably result in an overly descriptive passage that you won't want to include in your final draft, but it's good practice to push yourself beyond reporting simply sights and smells. This exercise will not be posted to the class site, but should be placed in the "Description" section of your own craftbook.
Description Exercise 5 (Opt.) - Submit Response
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