Sometimes I treat fiction writing like painting a picture. I have little experience with art, but what I remember from school was that you’d start by sketching an outline in light pencil, which won’t be seen under your paint. Then, you fill in large areas and begin layering with more detail.
This can work with writing, too. Often, I begin with the dialogue and little else. Then I describe the wider area – the room, the park, etc. And then I fit in finer details about facial expressions, body language, sensual experiences, and movements in the vicinity of the action.
I ask myself questions such as “what can they see/hear/feel?” One contribution I’ve been able to make to the writing groups I belong to is to ask them to include more sensory detail. Often, people focus on one but not all. One person in my group told me that my input on senses had helped her improve her writing, and I was delighted.
Two people don’t just talk to each other with nothing else happening. They have a location, a temperature, smells, varying degrees of light, and possibly colours. There could be other people, plants, and buildings. Background noise could be light or intense. The characters could be eating and/or drinking.
The amount of description shouldn’t be overdone—every time you set out to describe something, you don’t need to use all senses. Perhaps scatter them through your writing. Also, think about the senses that might apply to a particular character – e.g. a chef might notice the smell of food.
Timing can be an issue with this technique, and it helps to have the scene planned in your mind. If not, you risk adding details after the sketching stage, such as someone knocking over a glass. This can look like a clumsy add-on.
These descriptions make your writing come alive. They help ‘paint’ the whole picture.
When writing dialogue, I try to avoid a lengthy list of ‘he said’, ‘she said’, and replace them with ‘He sat back’, ‘She frowned’, ‘He crossed his arms’, etc.
This analogy can be taken deeper. In painting, the light source changes how colours look. In writing, the main character’s mood changes how the environment looks: a rainy day seen through a good mood looks completely different from one seen through a sad one. So, next time you’re writing dialogue, imagine the whole picture. ‘Paint’ the location, and fill in the finer details.