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of action and emotion . . . ," according to Sandra Scofield, in The Scene Book.

David Morrell notes that "Description also fails when it is static. Too often, scenes are constructed so that a character arrives at a locale, the locale is described in one lump, and then the action continues. A much better tactic involves using details of the setting as part of the action."

NARRATIVE VS. POINT-OF-VIEW DESCRIPTION

Should description flow from the narrator (as in narrative description) or should it appear to flow through the mind of a point-of-view character?

Janet Evanovich, in How I Write, hints at the answer when she observes that ". . . you want [the readers] to feel like they're right next to your characters, experiencing the scene as the character does."

Donald Maass, in Writing the Breakout Novel, notes that since the invention of the novel it has been transformed by a progressive narrowing of point of view: from the once-essential author's voice, to omniscient narration, to objective narration, to first- and third-person narration, and most recently to close third-person narration. According to Maass, today's reader wants an authentic experience. Skillful inclusion of description from a character's point of view can go a long way toward adding verisimilitude to fiction, involving the reader, and making it seem more realistic.

David Madden, in Writer's Digest Handbook for Novel Writing, sums it up "Filter all description through point of view."

Broadly defining description to include almost all writing provides little help to fiction writers. More narrowly defining description to exclude the other fiction-writing modes, however, focuses attention on numerous opportunities to enhance the reader's emotional experience. How a writer uses description and the skill with which he presents description is, of course, an important aspect of his unique writing style.

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