Writing good descriptions requires inspiration and imagination before all else. There is nothing particularly difficult about writing for a MUD, but there are a number of common, fatal mistakes new builders typically make. If you read through this tutorial, you should be able to avoid the common pitfalls, and thus insure a long life as a builder. Remember that your job with descriptions is to create an interactive environment that the player sees, hears, feels, etc. This means that your number one goal is to be eloquently descriptive. Writing for a MUD was once explained to me as writing a story for the mortals of the realm. As you go through the zone, it unfolds into different twists in the plot. Try imagining writing a small book when creating your descriptions. A few builders wing it, which I highly discourage. The best zones I have ever seen have always had much forethought and planning before the builder process began. Do what works best for you, everyone has their own style of building. Use it to your advantage. Many players (both experienced and first timers) read the descriptions carefully the first time they walk through an area, and having many extra descriptions helps them fill out their idea of what things actually look like. When writing the numerous descriptions of the area, make them interesting to read! Nobody likes to read room after room of stupid one-line descriptions. Vary each description as much as possible. One of the greatest joys for most players is finding new and interesting rooms, items, treasures, and monsters. For those of you familiar with role-playing games, this creative use of descriptions and atmosphere should be quite well known to you. Consider looking over other areas you enjoy before building your own, to use ideas from that area. Remember: You do not want to bore your players to tears. There are four types of descriptions a builder can make. Room, Mob, Obj and extra. Room descriptions are simply what players see when they walk into a room. Mob and Obj descriptions are what players see when they look at the Mob or Obj. Extra descriptions are unique because they can be used on either rooms or objects and can be seen when a player types "look <keyword>". See also:: REDIT-DESC, REDIT-EXTRA, OEDIT-EXTRA, MEDIT-D-DESC