Bookworms United | The Book Club II

Week 35

Hello, lovelies! 

Welcome to Week 35 at BUBC!

I'm updating a bit late this week. Got a bit consumed by my schedule and couldn't fit this in, so you'll all get an extension to turn this one in by next Tuesday (instead of Monday). 

As always, feel free to leave any questions, comments, or feedback for the club here --->

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This week's pairs:

amansrose (A Deadly Game) - notzalayell (Desperado)

RogueWriter55 (The Clearing) - amymarshmallow (The Princess Hex)

BlameSaiki (Those Who Struggle) - crazykotsyf (In Lucem)

vinnie_kash (Seeing Through Selena) - Aphrodite_Nova (Institute Of Salvation)

spelunkadunk (The Claimed: Rashika's Revenge) - FranklinBarnes (You Must Remember This)

coffee_doodles (the london eye) - 1234jiana (The Necklace)

captaindekirk (Blue on Blue) - beautifulpoetic_ (Better Not Fall)

Shvaenyx (Since) - fionawinxhester (El Tesoro)

Tuffybrown (Why Me) - cremedelaoreo (It Started At Camp)

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Question of the Week:
On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your partner's descriptions? Were they fresh and vivid? Original? Or was the imagery lacking? If so, what do you think could be improved?

Description

We've discussed how to write description several times in this club. Today, I'll be sharing a few tips that might come in handy in the future. :)

- Avoid using the verb "to be" (was and were)

During a writing session, it's quite common to find paragraphs like:

The famous Lucas was even taller than I imagined. His eyes were a perfect shade of baby blue. He extended his hand in greeting, but I was too stunned to move. 

When re-reading, you might find the reading flow somewhat stunted and repetitive. It might be good to replace those "was" and "were"s with other verbs like:

The famous Lucas looked down at me and extended a hand in greeting. I would've returned the gesture, but his baby blue eyes had me frozen in place.

- Avoid excess adjectives

By this, I mean, avoid pointing out what is already a given. 

If roses are red, 
and violets are blue,
it's better unsaid, 
than to point it out too.

And that's as much poetry as you'll ever get out of me XD
(Definitely not my forte).

In all seriousness, it's better to avoid pointing out descriptions that are obvious and don't add much to a reader's image of the scene.

You wouldn't say: "The green grass" as the grass is usually green. It'd be better to point out its color in an odd circumstance, like: "The purple grass".

- Avoid Repetition

I rarely come about this one in my read for reads, but it's definitely come up.

When building up a description, try to come up with different words for the same thing. For example, if we're describing a field, try not to do this:

The field went on for miles and miles. The tall, golden grass tickled me endlessly as we ran through the field. I hoped we'd be able to run through this field forever.

As you can see, the repetition of "field" and the verb "run" can make the reading flow awkwardly-paced and unnatural. It'd be better to write something like:

The field went on for miles and miles. The tall, golden grass tickled me endlessly as we ran through it. I hoped we'd be able to play in this leafy wonderland forever.

I hoped these were of help to you guys. If you have any more description tips, feel free to share them here too!

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Remember that after reading and commenting on the 3 chapters of your fellow bookworm, you have to let me know you're finished, in the comment section of THIS chapter.

And answer the question of the week.

Until next Monday, bookworms!

- l i a n n -