Word Choice: The Beautiful and the Ugly

These two words are the most common descriptors of something’s appearance.  Despite this, they don’t tell us anything.  For example, when I say, “The beautiful painting was stolen from the gallery.”  What do you imagine?  A landscape, a portrait, an abstract?  The same can be said for “An ugly dog growled at me.”  These words are not helpful (Note: I’m not saying you can’t use these adjectives, but if you do, be sure to explain what makes the nouns they modify deserving of the title).  “The lily field painting was stolen from the gallery” tells the reader much more about the painting than the previous sentence. It’s much easier to visualize.  As does “A muddy dog that smelled like expired cheese growled at me.”  It’s important not to give too much information though.  Most of your readers will likely not care what the brush strokes on the painting look like or the type of paint used on it.  Of course, this is not isolated to only paintings or dogs but anything (especially characters). It will make your reading more fun! 

-Damien Gentry