Introduction
Several years ago, my wife and I went to the theater to see Avatar in 3-D. I hadn’t seen a movie in 3-D since I was a kid. The technology had greatly improved, but we still had to wear those silly glasses.
The movie surrounded us. Creatures floated out of the screen and around our heads. It was pretty amazing. The movie itself was just okay. But the experience surrounded us, made us feel like we were a part of the movie.
That made me think about writing, of course. What is it about some stories that surround you while reading, while other stories feel flat, two-dimensional?
So I studied this issue and discovered a few things. I boiled it down to the Three D’s of Three-Dimensional Writing:
Description (characters and setting)
Despair (and all the other emotions too)
Dialogue
We’ll dive into each of these topics over the next several weeks as we take everything we’ve learned about our characters and setting so we can translate our story into the words that will surround readers with realistic, three-dimensional characters, set in a realistic, three-dimensional world, speaking realistic, compelling dialogue.
How much description is enough? How much is too much?
There is a perfect amount of description your story should have. Unfortunately, there is no formula to calculate it.
Too little, and the reader can’t visualize the scene, picture herself in it, or know what the characters look like.
Too much, and the reader’s senses overload with minutiae. Too much description can actually make it more difficult for a reader to grasp and retain the images.
Describing your characters
You, as the writer, know what the characters look like. If you’re writing fiction, they’re imaginary characters inhabiting your head, but you can see them. If you’re writing nonfiction, such as a memoir, you know what they look like.
How do you transfer that image in your head to words on a page that will then convey that imagery into the reader’s mind?
Have you read a book where some characters are ciphers? A generic human male-shape with no face and no distinguishing features? Even for a secondary or minor character, there needs to be something that helps the reader picture the person in the scene.
On the other hand, have you read a story where every time a new character walks in, the writer stops the story cold to describe the person to a pointless level of detail?
Let’s take a look at three examples. Three versions of the same moment in a scene.
Not enough character description
Laurie sat at the bar, depressed. She glanced occasionally toward the door. Then he walked in. He was tall, handsome and well-dressed, and caught her eye immediately.
The writer tells us, rather than showing us, that he’s tall, handsome, and well-dressed. Does that plant a clear image of what this character looks like?
How tall? Six-foot one-inch, or seven-five?
Handsome? What does handsome look like? Might not every woman have a slightly different definition of the term (within some range, at least)? I mean, my wife thinks I’m handsome, so it’s a pretty wide range.
Well-dressed? In a suit and tie, or casual? Expensive or just neat?
Can you see this character in your mind from this description? Doubtful.
Let’s try again.
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