Beautiful Words

You all know that no one more than me hates endless description. And that description can be one of the worst parts of a book. The endless describing of setting, clothing, and looks. And then the constant re-describing, just in case we forgot. And all those extra words. Too much description shows you don't trust your reader, and won't allow them to use their own imagination.

But this doesn't mean that your writing should be sparse. Each word must be chosen with care. YA Highway illustrated this well with a wonder example from Shiver.

There was no sun; there was no light. I was dying. I couldn't remember what the sky looked like.

But I didn't die. I was lost to a sea of cold, and then I was reborn into a world of warmth.

I remember this: his yellow eyes.

I thought I'd never see them again.

    

--SHIVER by Maggie Stiefvater
 

Now, personally I didn't really care for Shiver. Sorry Maggie. It just wasn't my thing, and I'm just so sick of twilight and anything twilight-esqe. But Maggie Stiefvater can put words together like nobody's business. But it's not just words, it's sentence structure as well. The flow, the built up, and the impact of her words as illustrated in this passage.

Which goes into one of my favorite issues to beat into people. You learn a lot about writing just by reading, and this is a perfect example.