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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Heathen72" data-source="post: 2345665" data-attributes="member: 7029">A few ideas which might help:1) Train yourself to think cinematically - Ask yourself "How would this situation look if it in were a movie? What things would a great director focus on to create the mood?" Focus on the effect you want the area to have, and the details will come. Is this scene from a horror movie?  An action film, a thriller? Watch a few genre films and see what directors focus on to make you feel the way they want to. Then imitate them until you get the hang of it.2) Be succint. Further to Quickleaf's point, most of the time try to avoid describing things in too much detail! You don't need to spell everything out - just emphasize a few features that capture the feel you want to evoke and let the players imaginations do the work. If they want more information they'll ask for it. Most players minds will fill in the gaps according to the mood you've created, and will accomodate any changes as you describe them (though some players can be a little bull headed) > 3)It's from the PC's point of view, so place yourself in the PC's shoes and think what they are likely to be seeing smelling feeling etc. Remember that they haven't always got time to see everything! This is a game  of action, not a merchant ivory production! If they've just opened a door and are being charged by a large ogre they are only going to get a glimpse of what's happening on the other side of the door  (unless they actually say they are looking through it) so all you need to describe it as is some sort of  kitchen, or as a room filled with carpets, or even just as "light bursts forth from the brightly lit room, dazzling your eyes, only to be obsured by something huge and sawtoothed in the doorway"  And sure, there will be areas of amazing majesty and scope the players will come across that you will want to describe in detail, so take your time with those, and perhaps do a little prep ahead of time to get the best effect.  Look up some the Ravenloft rules and see what tips they have on creating mood - there are good tips for describing games in general.You sound like you have a great GM ethic. Keep up the great work.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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