Topic: The Description Of Joy
Chapter Written By: JadedElegance
Level: Intermediate
Related Genre(s): All

Before we start, I'll make a confession.

I am a descriptive writer.

I do not share Hemingway's hatred of adjectives, Stephen King's murderous rants towards adverbs, and I believe "Show, don't tell" is one of the most incorrectly used cliches invented.

There is nothing wrong with being a descriptive writer. Up until the Hemingway Revolution Of American Fiction, most classic literature was highly descriptive.

Some critics will try to make you feel bad about your metaphors, your chapters that are almost 10,000 words, your patches of prose that turn just a liiiiitle purple.

They'll tell you your style is old-fashioned, that no one writes this way anymore, and "more plot, less droning on about feelings."

When you meet these people, smile politely, and write the 2500 words on what you really wanted to say in response.

Descriptive writing, lyrical writing, and many related styles are no longer the fashion unless you like fantasy, sci-fi, or romance. However, it has some tremendous advantages if it's a style that you master and is natural to your style of writing.

The greatest advantage is that, hands down, no one will beat you when it comes to emotion. People will laugh, they'll cry, they'll feel, and they'll have a genuine connection to your characters even if they didn't expect it. Descriptive writing is the heart of emotional depth, character development, world-building, and even dialogue.

People often ask me: "How do you make your characters feel so real? I feel like they are actual people."

The answer is simple: "Make them real."

I know a character is under-developed if I can write his death scene and feel nothing. Descriptive writing aids in character development. Character development makes the people who inhabit your story feel as real as anyone else.

It's not easy to be a descriptive writer in modern fiction, but this series of articles will be about why description and development will make your prose shine.

Authors will argue all day long about what the key to a good story is.

For me, it's emotion.

If I've inspired a reader to feel, rather than being merely curious about what happens next, I consider it well-written. Some of my minor characters have gone on to have their own storylines because of how reader connected with that character.

If you want a reader to feel emotion, you must describe it. There are some cases where "Show, don't tell" is solid advice.

A long piece of narration, a character ranting on, or just expounding upon thoughts you have will kill any scene where emotion is present in the action.

Hamlet would not wax poetic about being and not being in the middle of a battle, heated argument, or tearful reunion.

However, sometimes description is best used not in showing something but telling. A strong narrator tells but also describes.

Margaret Mitchell's epic "Gone With The Wind" has the famously strong opening:

"Scarlett O'Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm as the Tarleton twins were."

The description of Scarlett's appearance goes on in detail, for paragraphs, following the opening statement. Through this, we know much about the protagonist before she even appears. There is little action. It is all thanks to the descriptive prowess of the narrator.

Writing about emotion is a similar thing to writing about the appearance of a character. It is important to keep in mind your POV when telling your story. Who is speaking is every bit as essential as what is being said.

Today, we'll focus on the expression of joy in writing. After all, for many writers, the happy things are the easiest to convey. (Don't ask why. For me, they are the hardest.)

Let's pretend for a moment that you are writing about Cinderella, returning from the ball. In first person POV, it might sound something like this:

"I never knew the world could be so beautiful!" I twirled and I twirled, unaware of the eyes around me, a whiff of my own rose perfume in the air. The silk and chiffon were blowing in the wind like a magical parasol that could lift me as high as stars themselves. However exquisite their beauty, for the first time in my life, I radiated a beam of ecstatic loveliness that convinced me I could compete.

Cinderella expresses her joy here through not only words but actions. Her words and actions complement, rather than contradict.

Another technique used to express emotion is called sense engagement. There are five senses: sight, touch, taste, smell, and sound. While using all of them is going to lead to some description overload in a single paragraph or two, writing a scene or chapter gives you the leeway to explore all of them.

It's wonderful your character is happy!

At that moment she is experiencing joy, it's important not only to describe how joy feels but how it looks, smells, tastes, etc. Simile and metaphor are your friends here. Obviously, your ecstatic main character is likely not expressing that by licking anything (well, probably not).

Of course, there are times when you want to express joy more subtly. In those cases, you want to create the struggle of an emotion meant to be contained fighting to break free. The struggle makes the emotion much more real and "alive" for the reader.

"Allie sat at her desk, her eyes staring at her algebra quiz but her face flushed a light pink. She couldn't believe someone she'd admired for so long had asked her to the dance. She definitely wasn't going to be that geek who did a little dance in the hallway or traced her fingers over and over the place on her palm where his fingers made contact with her own. The fact that she wanted to do cartwheels down the hall and let the world know it was the day her life changed forever--well, that was inconsequential."

This is an example of "restrained joy", told from the 3rd person limited POV.

Many descriptive writers, myself included, prefer 3rd limited as the POV of choice because it's often considered the most "intimate" of POVs. It allows for Allie to know every detail of what she feels, sees, and thinks and to tell the reader in a highly descriptive way.

The limitation is that Allie only knows her world from her perspective, and no one else's.

1st person, 3rd person limited, and 3rd person limited, multi-view (useful for epic stories with multiple protagonists) are the best choice for descriptive writers. 2nd person POV often assigns emotion to an indefinable "you", and 3rd person omniscient is wonderful for a descriptive narrator who "tells the tale"--but he/she won't go into emotional detail. The price for being all-knowing is a level of detachment.

Finally, it's important to remember that descriptive writing is action plus emotion. Focus too heavily on either, the reader will become almost "immune" to emotional impact or investment in your plot and characters. Keep your prose both lively and descriptive by having the character DO something, even in a scene where he/she is only busy feeling.

If a person is joyful, they may jump, skip, twirl, dance, hug, run, hi-five, fist bump, or throw their lover to the ground for a passionate kiss.

They are also feeling happy, ecstatic, excited, enthusiastic, alight, sparkling, celebratory, impulsive, or whatever else fits the situation.

The combination of action words, descriptive words, and sensory engagement are what allows your reader to feel what your character feels.

It seems so simple and easy, but it's one of the most difficult keys to unlock in your storytelling.

Even if you are not a persona naturally aware of emotions or senses in your day-to-day life, you can teach yourself.

- What did you experience when you smelled your breakfast?

- How did you react, internally or externally, when shown affection by a spouse.child, or friend?

- Your boss compliments you. How do you react? How do you feel? How do you really WANT to react?

Until next week, focus on joy. Practise bringing moments of joy to life on the page, instead of saying, "Joe smiled."

If it's not so easy, start by taking a look at yourself, and how you'd describe your own experiences. Some find keeping a journal is helpful.

Like all emotions, joy is living, breathing, life-altering, and transient.

As a writer, it's your job to capture that emotion before it flies away.