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When you write, how do you do your descriptions? I write really great dialogue, but it's the things in between that I struggle with. Do you have any advice?

I usually try to imagine the scene as if I was there. I think the level of detail described in it shouldn’t be excessive, but clear enough to let the reader know where/when the scene is set and what kind of characters and animals live in that place.

Descriptions can also help with the dialogue: they can offer a good topic of conversation to the characters, trigger a chain of consequences, help show the inner thoughts of someone who is admiring the landscape. Try to use them to your advantage and describe what you most feel familiar with.

Even using the actions of the characters to add descriptions to the story is a good way to deal with them, like: “She sat on the edge of the large, creaking bed and traced with a finger the golden figures sewn on the blanket, following the story of a king hunting with his guards. She looked up, her eyes moving to the open window, and admired the last gold sewn into the sky.”

The characters are the ones who get to live in the scene, so try to use them to see the world through their eyes and describe it through them!