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1. First taboo: No matter how beautiful your writing is, do not let the descriptions cause your narrative to come to a halt.
A novelist must always remember this: do not over-describe anything, whether it is the Teton Mountains, the sunset, or the zebras on Waikiki Beach. Otherwise, the strength of your narrative will be affected, and you will create dangerous gaps in the reader's attention. Remember Ellery and Reinard's golden advice: 'I always strive to remove content that readers would skip.' Indeed, readers are willing to skip ineffective content.
2. Second major taboo: Do not spend too much time describing environments that are not important.
Novelist David Lodge once stated: 'Description in a good novel is never just about description. The danger of most background descriptions is that a series of beautiful sentences and the interruption of the narrative push the reader into a sleepy state.' Keep Lodge's maxim in mind and write it on a note to place in front of your computer or typewriter: 'Description in a good novel is never just about description.'
3. Third taboo: Do not waste the reader's attention on trivial matters. This is the most common mistake beginners make.
4. Fourth taboo: Do not generalize; be specific.
Regarding the taboo of generalization in writing, no one expresses it better than the great Russian writer Chekhov. In a letter, he advised a writer friend to avoid generalization and banality: 'I think that a true depiction of nature should be concise and relevant to the theme. One should avoid cliché descriptions, such as, “The sunset bathed in the black waves of the sea, with purple-golden rays cascading down,” etc. When describing nature, capture the details to such an extent that even with your eyes closed, the scene you described can still be seen.'
Therefore, when you sit down to write, remember: not 'a drink,' but 'a Martini'; not 'a dog,' but 'a long-haired dog'; not 'a bunch of flowers,' but 'a bouquet of roses'; not 'a skier,' but 'a young girl in full bloom'; not 'a hat,' but 'a tall top hat with a turned-up brim'; not 'a cat,' but 'an Abyssinian cat.'Not 'a gun' but 'a new 0.44 caliber automatic pistol,' not 'a painting' but 'Manet's "Olympia".'
