'How do you write immersive descriptions?' | #AskAbbie

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Welcome back to Ask Abbie​, where I answer YOUR writing questions and help you make your story matter! Today I'm answering a common writing question: How do you write immersive and colorful descriptions? How do you find the happy medium between "purple prose" and "beige prose"? In this video, I share my best advice for writing immersive, character-based description that will pull your readers into the story and make them forget they're even reading a book.

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✨ V A L U A B L E R E S O U R C E S✨

MORE ASKABBIE VIDEOS YOU WOULD LIKE:

→ "HOW DO I MAKE MY BOOK LONGER?"

→ "WHAT'S BETTER: SUSPENSE OR SURPRISE?"

→ "HOW DO I COME UP WITH A PLOT FOR MY NOVEL?"

→ "THREE CHARACTERS, ONE INCITING INCIDENT?"

✨F O L L O W ✨

✨ A B O U T ✨
My name is Abbie Emmons I teach writers how to make their stories matter by harnessing the power and psychology of storytelling, transforming their ideas into a masterpiece, and creating a lifestyle that makes their author dreams come true.

Story isn’t about “what happens” — it’s about how what happens affects and transforms the characters. I believe that there is an exact science (a recipe, if you will) behind a perfect story. And if you know what ingredients you need, you can create your own perfect story with ease and confidence. That’s what we talk about every week on this channel – and if it’s something you’re into, be sure to subscribe and join this community!

[christianknickerbocker]

Actually this an incredible concept for all writing. I always assumed a characters voice was only useful when writing first person, gonna experiment with this right away.

[neofulcrum]

This is definitively the toughest part of writing. I’m always learning new words when I read

[KeikoArukara]

Okay, Abbie, this is getting scary: do have premonition or something? Every time I'm struggling with something you load up a video on that topic. I'm literally right now struggling to find the best way to describe my protagonist's organization's compound and people in it trying not to write an info dump by my character or in "purple pros" filling 5 pages with description 😂

[AdamCollings]

Your purple examples were hilarious. I tend more toward the beige end of the spectrum, especially in first drafts. I have to consciously add character-based descriptions when editing.

[daviddevlogger]

If you are reading this. Know that everything you ever wanted is on the other side of fear❤️

[LemonLimeKingdom]

Chapter 1:
Echoes Of Childhood

35 years ago…
In my playroom, I leaned out of the window, admiring the sweet sun, like a lively friend, welcoming the shivering sky by bouncing on marshmallow clouds; playing an endless game of tag. A warm, woozy summer breeze brushed against my face, softly moving my hair as if inviting me to join its dance. The trees and bushes waved left and right to me, saying hello. The cheerful chirping of singing birds was like music to my ears, making me giggle and clap my tiny hands with delight. Everything outside seemed like a magical playground, and I couldn't help but smile at the wonders of this amazing day, that was building up my excitement.

Is this too much description? Is this a character-based description? Is this description enough to start my first chapter?

[EmmarainePink]

I was like, "How much is too much description?" And then you showed the example and I'm like, "JFC yeah that's too much". Thanks for this!

[Yo]

It may be because my narrators are always omniscient and never characters within the story but I really liked the beige prose. It was so easy to follow and kept up a nice pace. I tend to sprinkle in a few extravagant descriptions for emphasis or to imbue an emotion but never metaphors or similes. Metaphors are where my attention lapses even if I'm heavily invested in the scene

[BruceWayne]

Joe Abercrombie helped me understand this. He said that as part of his editing process, like you said, he would think in the character's POV, how does the environment affect the POV character specifically? Does it spark any memories, or do they relate with aspects of it in some way, and if so, how? Ask yourself how the character is feeling in the moment. A shadow can be simply a shadow to some, but to someone that is traumatized of the dark, and is alone, it could be something ominous. It all comes down to putting yourself in your character's head. This is a skill that all actors, and writers develop. It takes a lot of time and practice to perfect.

[lachibolala]

The only thing I wanna say is, Abbie, you saved my life! Thank you so much. I am a fetus writer I writer Fanfictions tbh, and since I found your channel, I'm more into writing. your videos not only help me with writing but also motivate me to write more and more and discover myself. I was struggling to write better descriptions for my story, and now I got it. I write more in 'beige' than 'purple', but I'll try to write more immersive descriptions. Thanks for the video.

[najeeamurray]

Within the first few pages of reading Tessa and Weston's perspectives, I could tell how unique and distinctive their voices were! I keep coming back to them as inspiration to remind myself to write in my own character's voices. Thank you Abbie for writing such great characters!

[The_Lost_Jams]

I actually thought that I was weird because when I wrote my novel, I basically tapped into my MC. Were like totally the same person, but she's probably the better side of me. And I can also relate to her so much.

[ProfessorBurlingame]

This is a very interesting question and response. Love how Abbie focuses on the advice to write to make the reader feel something and to write using a character's voice. It makes me think deeper about the writing I read and the writing I do.

At the same time, though, I wonder if the difference between "purple" and "beige" prose is in the eye of the beholder and might also has something to do with the author's writing style.  

Hemingway is famously known for his "beige" prose that is spare and likely influenced in part by his career as a journalist and his 20th century Midwestern upbringing. Poe, in contrast, is known for his comparitively "purple" prose that is ornate and likely influenced in part by his career as a poet and his Victorian East Coast upbringing.

Not everyone likes either author and people tend to point to their writing style as the reason. Personally, I prefer Poe to Hemingway in part because I like the Victoriana better, but I know people who disagree with me.

I'm wondering if writers should also stay true to their own writing style and not worry too much about how others may label their writing. The people who like it probably won't label it either "beige" or "purple" - they'll just enjoy it.

[muffincrumbss]

*Quietly erases my 5-page description of someone eating spaghetti*

[jasleensihra]

Thank you for answering my question Abbie!! I really appreciate your practical examples, I struggle with abstract advice and you hit the nail on the head all the time! Thank you very much 😄❤

[Morrell-uwvn]

I love the idea of writing descriptions from the character's point of view rather than the writer's point of view. Thank you so much for this writing advice. :)

[billyalarie]

I would argue most “purple prose” (that is, prose deemed “bad”) is actually the most vivid of prose. Too much of it today wants to “get to the point”. That’s jarring, to me. I don’t understand what’s going on in a vast majority of scenes in popular books, because I’m not given the opportunity to really understand my surroundings.

Now for a caveat: I don’t have this cinematic view a lot of writers have, when writing—or even that a lot of readers have, when reading. So even the most basic scenes are difficult to grasp. I think my concern mostly goes to: how can I avoid writing “purple prose”, while trying to make sure I get the scene detailed exactly as I see it, as someone who has a hard time visualizing what’s supposed to be the scene as written.

(An interesting thing I would note: this is also in the family of problems I have trying to understand where we are in an action scene. I think this makes most action scenes bad, bc if you’re trying to immerse me, maybe spend a minute on what’s happening, rather than focusing on the pacing, which, ironically, gets destroyed by trying to do 50 things in the span of 60 seconds.)

[writerinprogress]

A-HA! THIS is why I'm finding it so hard to create good descriptions for my first-person POV sc-fi story! She's had her memory wiped, but before that she lived on the streets, and has had no formal education. This means I can't use any 'fancy' words that she would've heard in a school English class, or use any terms or names for things that she, as a poor girl living on the streets, would never have owned or even seen. But I still have to get creative with the more basic vocabulary she *does* have, so it doesn't sound like an Early Learning book. Sometimes I can nail it, but other times it's pretty darn hard!

[Missy]

usually, I don't comment a lot o YT, but Abbie, I gotta say: you really save my writer's life.
I discovered your channel only a few days ago but I have scribbled and took notes in a notebook while binging your videos and I have to say: thank you. thank you SO, so much. I am stuck iny my fantasy story for a while now and kept rewriting, adjusting things, but for some reason, it felt like I didn't even make anything better except for my writing style. And I had no idea why until I discovered your channel.
your advice is so inredibly helpful and with every video I watch from your channel, I get a better view on what the problems of my story are and how to get rid of them. my notebook is halfway filled with notes of your vids (it's a big notebook) and I cannot express how much I adore your advice and the excellent, down-to-the-point explanations you give. 🥰
I can't wait for your new videos :)
big thanks from Germany.

[Iram_Ali]

I hope that more writers watch this video! I'm currently reading an interesting story. The theme and plot are so good, but man, the prose is ultraviolet purple! There's a wall of text between each dialogue, with description after description of what anguish and mental torment the characters are going through. You're absolutely right, purple prose hurts!!