5 Ways To Write In Better Detail

It was in my 7th grade English class when I realized that writing was what I truly wanted to do, specifically when I read Ernest Hemmingway's "Old Man and the Sea." The lesson I learned from this book is what put me on the trajectory of becoming a writer, and this will be the lesson displayed in this post. Detail, Detail, Detail. 

Detail

Detailed writing is good writing. Detailed writing is important writing. Whether you are covering a breaking news story, providing an analysis of a complicated research study, or creating a story from your imagination, if your writing lacks detail, it will lack in interest as well. To avoid this, I have provided 5 ways that you can add detail to your writing and attract readers at the same time. 

1 - Sensory Details

A sensory detail is a sentence or statement made or improved using one of the senses. Think, instead of "the car looked old," you could say "The old car smelled like rust and years of neglect." A simple change like this can make a boring sentence into a much stronger one, so be sure to remind yourself of all of the senses

• Sight

• Touch

• Smell

• Sound

• Taste

2 - Literary Devices

Taking you back to your grade school English classes, do you remember learning about similes and metaphors? What seemed childish and easily distinguishable are very highly used in the world of writing. Simply, "the box was light," versus, "the box was light as a feather."

3 - Verbs

Verbs? Yes, verbs! Verbs can be widely used in writing and can be extremely important to paint the desired picture into your reader's heads. Instead of simple verbs like "pull, lift, run," use, "heaved, strained, galloped"

4 - Active Voice

How you write your words is something to consider in this case, as an active voice is the format of the subject of the sentence performing the action. Think, "I built this house with my bare hands," versus, "The house was built by him."

5 - Body Language

Characters in books and stories differ from the real world for one obvious reason, they aren't real. However, if you include real-life mannerisms such as body language in your characters, this will help bridge the gap between boring and relatable. Think, "the man sat down in his chair," versus, "the man slouched as he struggled to sit down in his chair."

Why?

Just using one of these five ways to add detail into your writing can prove beneficial to increasing you readers interest in your story, as well as your enjoyment writing them. Next time you put pen to paper, I implore you to add one of these five methods and add more detail in your story.