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How to Write Vivid Descriptions for Your Novel

August 7, 2019

art, descriptions, fiction, literature, meaning, writing

When I was a young(er) and stupid(er) author, I thought I needed to write long, elaborate descriptions of my settings. I read books where writers spent three pages on describing a wall, and I thought that’s how you write vivid descriptions.

Only much later, as I became more experienced, did I realize the truth: To write vivid descriptions that actually offer added value to your novel, you shouldn’t focus on wordy details. Indeed, more often than not, I’d advise against it.

But that’s not the end of the story, either. And so, with today’s post, I want to share some of my experience and offer you a tip or two about how to describe the setting of your novel in a way that does your story justice.

How to Write Vivid Descriptions — If you want to write vivid descriptions, focus **neither** on lengthy, detailed depictions, **nor** on fancy words

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Literature Is More than a Sum of Its Parts

August 3, 2019

Writing

art, meaning, symbolism, visuality, writing

I have often mentioned this in the blog: Literature is more than a sum of its parts. In other words, a literary text – like any self-respecting art form – provides you with more than simply all of its words, paragraphs, and chapters.

To talk about literature being more than a sum of its parts is another way of saying the following two things:

The creation of meaning is not only the author’s job.
Symbolic power is exclusively (think about that for a moment) found not in what you see but in what you don’t.

I was pondering on today’s topic while listening to a song – as I mentioned above, all self-respecting art is more than a sum of its parts. And so, I decided to use this song as an example case.

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The Difference between Nihilism and Fatalism

July 28, 2019

Philosophy

fatalism, life, meaning, nihilism, philosophy, thought

For some of you, the point of the title might be absurd. “The difference between nihilism and fatalism?” you might ask with incredulity. “Why, these two are the exact opposite of each other!”

But I’ve learned the lesson well: Never assume anything. This is especially the case when it comes to other people’s ideas. For a long time I naively assumed that if I could see the truth of something, others would too. But, apparently, self-delusion is what many people prefer.

In actual fact, most people to whom I’ve talked about nihilism seem to confuse it either with fatalism or depression. Let’s get this latter part out of the way: depression is, according to the American Psychiatric Association, “a common and serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act.”

The difference between nihilism and fatalism is chaotic. The two are basically the exact opposite of each other.

Depression is an illness. Nihilism and fatalism are philosophical viewpoints.

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