Descriptions are good. They are not your enemy. Descriptions help build an image - a visual world - within the reader's mind, which is something vitally important if you'd like them to really connect with your story. They give the reader bits of a scene to put together in their mind, and trust me, being able to actually imagine the place they're in, how the characters look, the colour of the walls, or even the time of day is rare. But when I do come across that descriptive bug, it makes reading an absolute pleasure.

Example:

'So you ate the muffin? The one I bought? The one that was right there on the table?'

'Uh... yes? I think? I... OK! Yes, it was me!'

Now let's make this a teeny bit descriptive:

'So you ate the muffin?' hung open in disbelief; a single finger pointing crookedly towards the kitchen table at a spot decorated with crumbs. 'The one I bought? The one that was right there on the table?'

He gulped. 'Uh... yes? I think?'

The look on her face was more than enough for him to lie, but he knew better than to mess with her at this point now that even her hair seemingly stood on end in fury.

With a brief shutting of the eyes and spiking heart rate, he cried: 'I... OK! Yes, it was me!'

Did you notice the difference reading those two examples I provided above? The first one was completely bare. Everything is left to the reader's imagination which - don't get me wrong, is also good in a way - but that extra effort to describe and bring the scene to life shows that you're interested in the visual image they create. That there's a particular thing you're imagining and you want them to imagine it too. 

Of course, descriptions however come with a fine line of their own: paragraphs of description is a no-no. It's going to bore the reader, and delving into the very deepest, most accurate anatomy of things can very easily get rid of your reader's attention span. 

There are particular times in the story where descriptions are necessary, example: a new place/change of scenery, a new character, an object of interest, etc. But not every few lines need to include a detailed description of how the sky looked or how hot the cup of tea was. Very rarely do overly-descriptive passages work, because in these rare instances, the descriptions are a part of the character that is being portrayed. Perhaps they have an OCD, or suffer from some sort of psychosis, or are in general hyperactive which explains why they describe things so meticulously on a regular basis... but like I mentioned just now, that's quite rare and should be reserved for the occassion. 

What also works well I've noticed, is the tiny bit of description between paragraphs of narrative. 

Let's say you're describing a bit of your character's past life. You have a large body of text that's all relative to the background story of your character, but at the same time, you want to keep reminding the reader that they're presently real. Having a hard time understanding this?

Example:

He threw his bag at the foot of the bed and sat on it; his eyes wandering around the bare white space that surrounded him. 

Lay had been an officer in the field for as long as he could remember. The sounds of gunshots, overhead yelling, the buzzing and blaring in his ears from nearby explosions... he could still vividly imagine these things. They were still fresh in his mind despite his 2 years of leave and there were even nights he dreamt of the battlefield to which he'd wake questioning his current whereabouts. What was real and what wasn't? The transition between noise and discord his mind conjured to the serene stillness he'd wake up to gave him an eerie chill every time, and then he'd ponder: was I even there in the first place at all?

His forearms were propped on his knees that spread out comfortably, and Lay hung his head low in deep thought. His fingers entwined tightly; the tips growing white beneath the nails. 

He needed to forget. This was a new start. A new beginning. An escape from the war, and he needed to accept there was no returning to the battlefield. And with that thought, Lay sighed before leaning back fully into the bed; his eyes boring holes into the ceiling before closing gradually, and he drifted asleep.

See the constant reminders that the character is still on planet earth and real? These are small descriptives that can really help the reader decipher that the character is in fact living and breathing and active in the current story. Many times I've come across narratives like this that leave out that crucial detail, and what's left is a body of text revealing everything about the character. There's no gradual information leaks or anything. It's just a large body of text with nothing to break it up comfortably, and that's definitely harsh on the eyes, which can be something that scares off the reader.

Anyway, this was just a small little thing I decided to write because what are blogs //laughs

Hope it helps someone! (And please don't hesitate to drop comments or ask anything~)

- DST