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Q&A Describing something that doesn't exist

Only describe the important stuff that will play a role later and gloss over everything else with very broad descriptions - readers prefer their own mental image if it's not relevant for the story....

posted 6y ago by Secespitus‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-12T23:01:23Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/35471
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T08:37:11Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/35471
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T08:37:11Z (almost 5 years ago)
Only describe the important stuff that will play a role later and gloss over everything else with very broad descriptions - readers prefer their own mental image if it's not relevant for the story.

It's enough to use terms and phrases such as "futuristic", "very sleek" and "complete glass hood" to give the reader a broad sense of what it looks like. They wil have some idea of what these terms mean and will create their own mental image.

If an aspect is important for the story you need to describe it in greater detail, but again only as far as you need to. For example if the glass hood is important because information for the OP will be displayed on it while driving then you mention how the "glass hood" is equipped with some "hologram device" that projects the wanted information directly into the view of the driver. That's enough again. No need to describe those little hexagons you can see or how chassis is formed or where exactly the light is - it's just not that important and while it might enhance a readers immersion it's important to focus on the important stuff and trust that your readers will be able to develop their own mental images of what you are describing.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2018-04-24T20:10:17Z (over 6 years ago)
Original score: 7