Rating: 
Summary: "A man thinking about death is not a story...
Review: A man building his own coffin is," this is one of the examples of wisdom in Monica Wood's book. Much of this material is common sense, if you think about it, but Wood puts it into words that help us think through our own thoughts. She asks us to focus our descriptive style through character, and relate how the scenes and settings impact the characters or are how they are interpreted by the characters. Make the metaphors and adjectives character inspired, not author inspired. She organizes her book around chapters that deal w/ Description in relation to Dialogue, Forward Motion, Point of View, ect, so this would be a handy resource to pull off the shelf if you are stuck in any given scene, and you want advice for better ways to convey the characters and to move the plot. She gives examples of good description and bad description, and if you're like me, you'll cringe reading the bad examples because they look so familair in my own writing. The only reason I don't give it five stars is I would have liked to have seen more descriptive examples from different genres, instead of incessant "modern-era Great American novel" type of prose. Some addenums on science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery, historical fiction, would have helped.
Rating:
Summary: "A man thinking about death is not a story...
Review: A man building his own coffin is," this is one of the examples of wisdom in Monica Wood's book. Much of this material is common sense, if you think about it, but Wood puts it into words that help us think through our own thoughts. She asks us to focus our descriptive style through character, and relate how the scenes and settings impact the characters or are how they are interpreted by the characters. Make the metaphors and adjectives character inspired, not author inspired. She organizes her book around chapters that deal w/ Description in relation to Dialogue, Forward Motion, Point of View, ect, so this would be a handy resource to pull off the shelf if you are stuck in any given scene, and you want advice for better ways to convey the characters and to move the plot. She gives examples of good description and bad description, and if you're like me, you'll cringe reading the bad examples because they look so familair in my own writing. The only reason I don't give it five stars is I would have liked to have seen more descriptive examples from different genres, instead of incessant "modern-era Great American novel" type of prose. Some addenums on science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery, historical fiction, would have helped.
Rating:
Summary: Show Don't Tell Done Well
Review: Another good book in a series of Writer's Digest books that are specific tools for the novelist or short story writer. The author challenges you to focus on details that tell a story rather than boring the reader with tunnel vision. She encourages the use of description in dialogue with specific examples of how you can spice up a conversation just by noticing the things your characters do while they talk. The ultimate show-don't-tell guide.
Rating: 
Summary: The best book on technique I've seen!
Review: Description, by Monica Wood, is the best book on technique I've ever seen. Ostensibly about writing description, the book covers everything from point of view to dialogue. Her explanations are so clear (the point of view chapter changed my own writing forever!) and she uses a lot of humor to get her points across. Highly recommended for writers who want to write better.
Rating:
Summary: Most fun "how-to" book I have ever read.
Review: I really wanted to learn how to write descriptively; I got this book, tried to read it, and nearly got bored to death. It said virtually nothing, in all the pages I read. Then I got a book called Word Painting, and I could hardly put it down. That has so helped me in my writing, and I would highly recommend that one.
Rating:
Summary: Great for inspiration
Review: I saw this book in the store, and was impressed by both the introduction and the varied topics, that cover the different aspects of writing quite well. Having now finished the book, I'm glad that I bought it. I always consider books about writing as guidelines, ideas of what you should consider, and not hard rules. Monica Wood has a slightly different idea of what description should be like than I have. The effect of some of her examples on me was different than what she intended. But that's one of the good things about this book. It illustrates its points well enough to let you judge for yourself if you like the style. There are many ideas to consider here, all of them written in clearly and with good examples. I found this book a good inspiration to go back to an old story of mine, rewrite parts, and add details. Not because I found anything really wrong with my own descriptions, but because it made me think more about my characters, and how small things I encounter in my life can be incorporated into a fantasy story set in another time and place. This shows how a good book about description can cover everything from setting to characters, and inspire you not just where your style is concerned. BTW, the book I have is an older (1995) hardcover edition.
Rating:
Summary: Rating the Elements of Fiction Writing series
Review: Like most of the Writer's Digest books, this title presents that basics of its subject. Wood's presentation is concise and effective, discussing the main elements that count in effective description. Above all, it taught me not to over-describe.
Rating:
Summary: Great reference
Review: This book is packed full of useful information on a wide variety of topics relating to description. There are lots of before/after examples illustrating how writing can be improved. Each chapter also contains a short summary of the advice covered and there is also a final chapter summarizing the book as a whole. Very well done.
Rating: 
Summary: This is not THE ONE on this subject
Review: This book is well organized, easy to read, and gives very good insight and techniques for a better description. But it isn't the best book on this subject because it is too short and ignores or touches lightly some parts of the descriptive projects. Buy it only if you want a slightly look at description, for a deeper analysis and more serious aproach, try "Word Painting", wich is much better.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Reference Guide for Writers, New and Old
Review: This is one of those books that people don't really think they need, until they pick up a copy and start flipping through it. Description is one of the most fundamental things a writer has to do, yet so many people who write do it poorly. Monica Wood takes the idea of description, and makes it an easy to use 'technique' in your writing. This is a necessary guide for all of us who like to write. The idea of show, don't tell, is pushed here, but not to the point of being obnoxious. Wood shows how to use all of the senses in your descriptions to make your reader feel as though he/she were there. That's key. 'A big, red house..' isn't description. ...a house the color of dried blood, with a roofline so tall that the clouds seemed to have to part to get around the peak..' now that's description! I have a few reference, or technique books on my shelf, and this one is one that I open most often. I want to make sure my readers understand where they are and what they're seeing, smelling, and feeling in the story. This book teaches the reader how to do just that.
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