on Fiction University:

Choosing the right details to describe can be the difference between a scene that soars and one that falls flat.

I have a confession. I can’t stand description. I don’t like writing it, I don’t like reading it, it often just sits there on the page and does very little to enhance the story. Which for a science fiction and fantasy writer like me, is kinda a problem. I have entirely made-up worlds full of things that only exist in my imagination, and the only way I can bring those details to life for my readers is to, well, describe them.

It took me a long time, but I eventually learned that description wasn’t just a list of details and character features. And my stories got a lot better once I did.

Description is more than what something or someone looks like—it’s an opportunity to evoke emotion, characterize, or create a mood.