General Writing - Description

Ah, description. Description is one of my favorite things to write (along with snappy dialogue and the rare, really touching interactions). I love reading it when it's well done, but when it's poorly done (at least in my opinion), it can drive me nuts. Because of this, I've shied away from writing a lot of description, especially when I feel I should be pushing myself to write more plot. Plot remains a weakness of mine, but that's another post. Description is, I think, a strength of mine, but if I keep shoving it to the back burner, it will become more and more rusty a tool.

My UFPE short story is the perfect vehicle for practicing this. The main character, L, is attending a sort of medieval carnival - the first such event he's ever attended. I'm trying to establish a sense of wonder, of confusion, of a kind of breathless joy - which all goes sour soon enough. That comes later.

Not much in the way of actual posting tonight; I'm writing this separately in the document. Just to act of forcing myself to take the time out of my reading schedule to write is the point of today's entry. Here's an excerpt, from the beginning

Anyway, the excerpt:

The world danced before his eyes and roiled in his ears. A girl held out her hands to him, and when he tentatively wrapped his fingers around hers, she pulled him close and whirled him in a circle. Luzeoir had the vague notion that he should have been the one whirling her, but the confident smile on her dark red lips and the tug of her arms convinced him that she knew what she was doing. It was fortunate, he reflected, that one of them did.

As the two of them whirled nearer to the torches, Luzeoir felt perspiration break out along his brow and along the long lines of his torso. A wave of dizzy heat crashed over him, from nearby fire, the bodies pressed close, and the chaotic frenzy that enclosed him. He took a deep, desperate breath, and tried to catch his partner’s eye to beg for escape. Her eyes wandered over the madcap scene before them, and when she did see him, she just smiled widely.