2. Why Write With Detail?
…Because detail is the tool that allows you to create a
vivid picture of life experiences, engaging readers by
making people, places, events, and feelings come
alive in their minds.
What is Detailed Writing?
…Detailed writing is also
called “descriptive writing.”
The two terms go together
because you need to add
detail in order to describe
something. The more detail
you add, the more descriptive
your writing becomes.
3. Types of Detail:
Specific Details:
“Specific” means clearly
defined or identified, so
“specific details” are
concrete words and
phrases used to describe
something.
“It was a sunflower: it was tall and
sturdy with a stalk that made a
crooked arch-shape. The center of the
flower head was large and brown, full
of little seeds, and surrounded by
many thin floppy petals that were not
bright yellow, but a dull mustard color.”
Sensory Details:
These are the words that
express the feelings of our
five senses: descriptions of
how things look, taste,
smell, sound, and feel.
“The flower had a thick, grizzly stalk
and bushy leaves covered in what
looked like a thin layer of fuzz.
Because it was so tall, it wobbled
forward and back in the wind, always
with its head facing the most direct
rays of warm sunlight. The faint smell
of pollen, sweet but fishy at the same
time, hovered around the plant.”
We’ll think of detail in two different ways:
4. Types of Detail:
Specific Details:
“It was a sunflower: it was tall and
sturdy with a stalk that made a
crooked arch-shape. The center of the
flower head was large and brown, full
of little seeds, and surrounded by
many thin floppy petals that were not
bright yellow, but a dull mustard color.”
Sensory Details:
“The flower had a thick, grizzly stalk
and bushy leaves covered in what
looked like a thin layer of fuzz.
Because it was so tall, it wobbled
forward and back in the wind, always
with its head facing the most direct
rays of warm sunlight. The faint smell
of pollen, sweet but fishy at the same
time, hovered around the plant.”
Take note: you always describe your sense of sight (we do
this naturally), so when trying to write with more sensory
details, focus on adding more of the other four senses. Yes,
some of the “specific” details listed are visual things (there is
overlap between the two types of detail in this respect).
6. The soft fur of the dog felt like silk against my skin, and her
black coloring glistened as it absorbed the sunlight,
reflecting it back like a perfect, deep, dark mirror.
8. It was a cold grey day in late November. The weather had
changed overnight, when a backing wind brought a granite
sky and a mizzling rain with it, and although it was now only
a little after two o'clock in the afternoon, the dullness of a
winter evening seemed to have closed upon the hills,
cloaking them in mist.
10. The young woman rose
from her seat, the
plastic armrests slowly
creaking as she lifted
her heavy body
towards the aisle. The
flight had been quiet for
most of the evening,
the luscious amber
skies of the Atlantic
during the summertime,
piercing the window's
gray shutters.
12. My most valuable possession is an old, slightly warped
blond guitar. It's nothing fancy, just a Madeira folk guitar, all
scuffed and scratched and finger-printed. The body of the
Madeira is shaped like an enormous yellow pear, one that
was slightly damaged in shipping. The blond wood is worn
by years of fingers pressing chords, and now looks gray in
spots, particularly where the pick guard fell off years ago.
13. Overview:
We we practice multiple strategies for writing with detail:
“Sensory Overload” Technique
“Digging for Details” Technique
“Slow Motion” Technique
Using Metaphor & Simile
“Show, Don’t Tell” Characterization
