Writing Tip #1

C H A T T E R  S T O R I E S

Hey Guys!

Something I've learned from writing is that you need to explain things (like the environment and characters), but you can't over-explain them. It's a bit of a tricky middle-ground to find, but once you have a grasp of it, it's pretty easy to get the hang of.


For example:

Which sounds better?

"I glanced around the room with my hazel eyes, and I saw that the walls were covered in blue and grey chairs, attached on hinges to the light brown painted walls. I looked around a bit more and saw that there was a woman with dark grey and ginger hair pinned up in a bun and blue eyes, rearranging the stack of yellowed papers messily thrown on her desk.  Once I looked around some more, I found that there were even more chairs attached to the light brown ceiling by dark coloured hinges. I brushed a stray piece of flyaway ginger and blonde hair behind my ear and took a step forward, causing her to glance up."

or

"I glanced around the room, noticing the peculiar fact that there were chairs attached to the walls and ceiling. Sitting in front of me, there was a stern-looking woman arranging a messy stack of papers on her desk. I took a step forward, causing her to glance up."


The second one is technically more accurate, because it takes less time to read and gets straight to the engaging point of the story faster, which will keep the reader interested.


I belive the key is to not over-explain things, but don't under explain things either (e.x: I walked into the room with chairs on the walls and saw the woman sitting at the desk and walked towards her.)