Edit 5: Description and Setting

Back with another edit! We’re halfway there, and now that we’ve edited a lot of our larger elements (the plot, world and characters) its time to get a little smaller. This is the description and setting edit!

This is probably my least favorite edit to do. Like… ever. If character and dialogue writing is my strength, descriptive writing I my kryptonite. Don’t get me wrong, I know that its important. I greatly admire writers that can weave prose together in a way that makes your brain melt. I get all fangirly over literary prose.

But writing literary prose? Nope.

 It’s one of my greatest struggles as a writer. Which means that this edit takes quite a bit of effort and concentration. It requires choosing my words carefully in order to not seem to cliché. It takes reading some of my favorite books to get myself in the descriptive mood. It means scrolling through pinterest for hours looking at pretty pictures.

Okay, maybe that last one is just me avoiding my work. So what does this edit require? Well it requires looking at the beginning of each chapter and scene to make sure the setting is defined. It also means deciding a clear aesthetic for each location, which if you’re writing fantasy, means a lot. On a smaller level, it requires paying attention to character descriptions.

Also fight scenes.

Freaking fight scenes. I sure can picture them clearly in my mind but translation them into words, the attempt can be clumsy at best. I sometimes need a separate edit just for fight scenes. And in the case of my current WIP, I’ll probably take that extra edit. And I’m not looking forward to it.

But we all have our painful edits and this is mine. What’s yours? Let us share our pain together and then get our rears in gear and fix it!