I've always felt this to be a weakness in my writing. While I can usually go on and on about an explanation on my story's magic system for an entire chapter or even lengthen an otherwise two chapter combat scene into three, I can't seem to do the same for environment descriptions.
Now, I understand that a longer description isn't exactly better. The best thing is to make it as easy and clear when trying to visualize the scene. I'd like to ask. How do you guys lengthen your environment descriptions?
I've got two pieces of advice here. They might not work depending on your writing style, but I found them really useful.
First, focus on various senses. The one we describe the most for fairly obvious reasons is sight, but you can usually add hearing and smell, in some cases even touch and taste. You should be careful not to describe something that can't be felt or noticed though, since it's easy to write that the sea smelled of salt then realize it's somewhere in the distance while the characters do their own thing in the hotel room with closed windows.
Second, don't describe just the surroundings. Use the characters and events to do that, sort of tie them with the surroundings so you describe their effects on the characters and their actions.
I'm lazy so I'll throw an example from my own unreleased story. Maybe not something amazing, but serves the purpose (I might have even overdid it; I was trying to write specifically what the main character felt).
*parts in italics are those that I feel show best what I described.
The rich smell of earth, of leaves, and of flowers permeated the air, as well as a plethora of different indistinct flavors she did not recognize. Birds chirped in the distance and leaves rustled in the wind. Overall, it was quiet, enough that her breathing sounded the loudest in her ears, and her heart came close second.
Her hands, splayed on the ground and supporting an awkward sitting position, told her it was real grass, leaves, and earth beneath her. A branch stung her hand, and a wet spot of soil prompted to shake her fingers off.
Cold air brushed her arms and made her shiver ever so slightly with goosebumps popping up all over her forearms. The surroundings smelled and felt cool and refreshing.
What this example doesn't describe is tying actions with depictions of surroundings, but that's fairly simple. If you have some action going on, you generally shouldn't pause to describe what happens in it, but only start with a quick general outline, then add details as things happen, say, When he rushed in, his eyes jumped between all the furniture in the room, the ornate tables, chairs, cupboards, finally settled on the furthest, white wall and its large, open window. Not taking a moment to rest, he dashed in its direction, and jumped out through the thick frame lined with gold.
Notice that if I skipped all the adjectives in the example, it would have been a perfectly fine scene as well. Just that it would lack details, which I would most likely need to add beforehand.
Now, those do not exactly lengthen the description by themselves. What they do instead is they spread it significantly and give you opportunities to add a lot of details that would have been out of place in a stationary description, mainly in regards to moving or changing parts, but also details (golden lining in the above example). If you want to lengthen the descriptions themselves, a lot of it comes just with practice that comes with writing and - this is important - noticing various details and differences in surroundings yourself.
Hmm. I think I maybe able to help you with this.. to write environment you first just imagine the scene and what are its characteristics.
Like first let's tackle if it's a scene with our MC or not.. if it's with or without the MC then we can incorporate sensory details. That is the meat of the discussion.. how you incorporate sensory details will make it easier to describe a scene.. try to fill the void of your imagination of what you try to envision like if there is a stall in your scene then there must be wares People and smells as well as signs etc
For example
Let's start by imagining a scene. Let's say it's a bustling marketplace in a medieval fantasy world. The market is teeming with people from various walks of life, merchants selling their goods, and performers entertaining the crowd. The air is filled with the aroma of exotic spices, sizzling meats from food stalls, and the scent of freshly baked bread wafting from a nearby bakery. The sound of vendors haggling, musicians playing lively tunes, and the chatter of the crowd creates a symphony of hums and noise. The vibrant colors of fabrics, fruits, and trinkets catch the eye, while the uneven cobblestone ground beneath your feet adds texture to the bustling atmosphere. As you move through the market, you feel the occasional brush of a passing stranger and the warmth of the sun filtering through the canopy of makeshift stalls overhead. This sensory-rich description helps to transport the reader into the scene, allowing them to fully immerse themselves in the environment.
This is my take on how you could describe a scene. There are many others... I use this one..
I've always felt this to be a weakness in my writing. While I can usually go on and on about an explanation on my story's magic system for an entire chapter or even lengthen an otherwise two chapter combat scene into three, I can't seem to do the same for environment descriptions.
Now, I understand that a longer description isn't exactly better. The best thing is to make it as easy and clear when trying to visualize the scene. I'd like to ask. How do you guys lengthen your environment descriptions?
Every new scene should open with a snapshot of description that details the stage the action is about to happen in.
No more than 60 words max. If you need more than that to describe your setting, splice it into your Action.
Location Changes
Every time the scenery changes: every new room, every new view, every new place they arrive at - gets described; so the reader can see it, and experience it too, but don't go overboard.
If your story is based in the normal contemporary world, what the Setting looks like only matters in their immediate location and how it affects them directly. For example, rain has more of an immediate effect on characters than would sunshine - unless they're a vampire.
Locations get 30 words max, because that's about how much the average person can catch in a single look. The rest of the details should be mixed in between the actions and dialogue as the character gets a better look around.
Note: Fantasy and Sci-Fi Require MORE Description.
In most sci-fi's and fantasies, the otherworldly SETTING is just as important as the characters because the differences between Fantasy & Reality actually affect the plot. For example, things that are possible in a Fantasy setting, but aren't in the normal world, and vice versa.
The snapshot at the beginning of every scene is still the same length (60 words), but you have to continue to add more description as the characters move through the world.
Use your environment description as the prompt for an AI image.
Write a description of the AI image you just generated.
Use the new description as a prompt to generate an AI image.
???
Grow stronger.
(You could also just grab photos off google and try to describe everything in them. That will help you learn how to describe things. Then you just have to learn when to describe things. For that... well, it's mostly just about mentioning things that help set the mood or advance the plot. I suggest over-describing, though. You can always delete it if it turns out to be irrelevant. Oh, and keep in mind your character's perspective. They may not care about the ants crawling around in their driveway, but they'll definitely notice tripping over the ant-hill.)
Writing what the character thinks of the environment, how the environment affect the characters, or how it reflects what the characters are currently feeling can help.
If you really want, you can visually describe the scene. But I myself tend to not do that, so I can't help much with it.
For example, this is how simple my visual description for a scene tends to be:
We were sitting side by side at the bench on the park, eating ice cream while enjoying the warmth of the sunset and laughter of the people.
