Two Aspects of Writing I Find Difficult

            There are two aspects of writing I do not like. They both involve description. One is the physical description of people. The other is the description of scene.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION OF PEOPLE
            It is important for the reader to have a mental picture of what the characters in the novel look like. Are they tall or short, heavy-set or thin?  Do they have long faces, or round cherubic ones? What color are their eyes? Do they have a short, stubby nose or a long patrician one?
            There are any number of characters in a work of fiction, most of which will require a physical description. What I find challenging is making each one distinct. It takes a lot of thought. Does their physical description match what their character is like? Or do they look like an angel but act like the devil?

DESCRIPTION OF THE SCENE
            I remember reading books that went to great length to describe the scene. I usually read one or two lines and skipped over the rest. So, the test is to make the reader acutely aware of the scene the character is moving in, but not to bore. It’s a fine line.
             How is the character experiencing the scene? What does he/she see, hear, touch, taste, and feel? If I write that a stiff breeze blew from the west, what does that breeze feel like on my character’s skin? If I write that a plane flew overhead, did the sound hurt the character’s ears, irritate or interest? If I write that a river sparkled in the distance, does the character want to go and see it up close, jump in for a swim, or just view it from afar?
              Physical and scene description are extremely important for the reader to “see” what the character looks like and where the action is taking place. I think I don’t like writing them because, although necessary, they don’t move the story along.
             However, no matter whether I like writing them or not, these are two skills that I must continually develop to improve as an author.