Struggling to bring your stories to life with detail that really resonates? In this video, we tackle how to go beyond overly general and vague descriptions to create sensory details that draw readers in. We’ll explore the difference between vague descriptions and those that truly immerse your audience, drawing from principles shared in my book, Beat the Bots. Make your writing more engaging and memorable! Let’s unlock the power of description together!
“I’m trying to integrate sensory descriptors as you recommend in your book, Beat the Bots, but I’m running into a problem with UGV’s, how do I avoid being overly general or vague?”
That’s a very interesting question. Sensory descriptions, of course, refer to what you see here, taste, feel, or smell. And I call them UGV’s: unsighted generalizations or vague terminology. They’re generally in two broad categories. Anything that has to do with quantities is an unsighted generalization or descriptors, modifiers, adjectives, adverbs are generally vague or can be vague.
So let’s say, as an example, you have a woman and she is over at a fellow’s house. They’ve just begun dating and he’s cooked her a wonderful pasta dish. And she wants to tell him that she thinks it’s delicious. Well, think about the word delicious. That is one person’s taste bud choice. Just because it’s delicious to you doesn’t mean it’s delicious to me. And it doesn’t tell me what it tastes like.
Is it crunchy? Is it sweet? Is it sweet and sour? Is it spicy? I, I don’t know what delicious means other than that it’s good. Now think about the character. We know she wants to please this man. She wants to tell him that she’s enjoying his food. But is she trying to position herself as a foodie? A little pedantic.
Is she going to say, “Ooh, I taste a soupçon of cinnamon.” Or is she trying to be a little informal and gonna say, “Ooh, yum! This is delish!” It always comes back to that one question: what are you trying to express? Let that be your guide. That’s what I focus on in Beat the Bots, and I know that you can do it. I’d love to hear your experience.
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