Skill Focus – Flat Description

Because “the room was nice” is technically a description—but your story deserves better.

✨ Welcome to the Land of Meh

Flat description is what happens when your words tell us what something is…
…but not how it feels, why it matters, or what it means to your character.

It’s like a travel brochure with no photos.
A meal with no seasoning.
A fire that’s just... room temperature.

Let’s bring your descriptions to life.

🧠 What Is Flat Description?

Flat description = factual, surface-level, emotionally neutral.

“The room was large.”
“She wore a red dress.”
“He had brown hair and green eyes.”

These aren’t wrong—but they’re also not doing much.

Let’s add perspective. Emotion. Tension. Voice.

“The room stretched too wide, like it was built for someone twice her size.”
“Her red dress clashed—on purpose.”
“His hair curled like he’d fought with it. His eyes didn’t blink enough.”

Now we’re getting somewhere.

🛠️ Try This Rewrite Drill

Here’s your flat sentence:

“The hallway was long and empty.”

Your challenge: rewrite it from a character’s perspective—add mood, metaphor, or sensory detail.

What does the emptiness feel like?
Why does it matter?

💡 Hint: Think about emotion + environment = tone.

🎯 Flat Description Check-In

Ask yourself:

• Does this sentence reveal emotion or just describe facts?

• Could a security camera describe this the same way?

• What would it look like if the character were noticing this through their own internal lens?

If your answer is “yeah, this could be a security feed,” it’s time to spice it up.

💬 Need Help? Ask Quillwyn!

Paste a flat line and say:

“Can you help me rewrite this with more emotion or character voice?”

She’ll show you how to take a sentence from factual to felt.