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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/41704
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

This is also my problem. The trick to solving it is to understand WHY description is necessary. You're not just checking a box or jumping through a hoop. **Description puts the reader inside the perspective of the character** , giving a vital context for the dialog and the plot. The best descriptions engage all of your senses, thus giving a fully immersive experience.

**All your description should do double or triple duty.** It should describe the setting, so the reader can picture being there, but it should also illuminate the POV character's personality and mood. "The trees were gentle maidens, their arms stretched out in a warm embrace..." _versus_ "The trees were stern soldiers, guarding the path..." _versus_ "The trees towered over the pathway, threatening and dark..." Those are three different descriptions of a walk in a forest, but they also tell you information about the POV character and how she is feeling at the time. Description can additionally tell "mini-stories" that illuminate the main plot. For example, the "gentle maidens" version might be for a love story, the "stern soldiers" version for an action adventure, and the "threatening" version for a horror story.

**If your first instinct is to skip over all the descriptions, you might be unobservant.** We tend to write more and better about the things that we love and that fascinate us. Luckily there are ways to make up for this. Spend some time observing the things around you, and coming up with creative ways to describe them. Picture how the descriptions would change if you were a different person, or in a different mood. Once you understand the role descriptions play, they'll become more fun and easier to write. (With all that said, however, you might also consider that your talents might best be suited to another form: plays or screenplays, which are mostly plot and dialogue.)

Original score: 2