I'd say for me it's an exact balance between detail, dialogue, and inner thoughts. What about everyone else here? Sometimes I read other books that are just weighted in detail and I wonder to myself if I'm doing something wrong... Especially when some chapters end up having longer dialogue than usual.
I try to make sure my chapters are balanced as well, except for chapters that might involve the main character being alone, with little or no contact with other characters. I don't think there is a "right" or "wrong" way to go about it, just as long as the scene has justification for being detail or dialogue-heavy.
I'll double check, but off the top of my head, I'd guess that I'm generally about 50% dialogue, 65% exposition
I realised that I almost never had indirect dialogue in my work, and that I am working on fixing. My stories flow much better because of it.
I don't think this is something you necessarily want to balance and have equal parts of. I think it's more a matter of what the story calls for than trying to figure out some equation and solve it. This is an art not a science. And if you're reading a lot of books that aren't aiming or coming anywhere close to your "exact balance," that should tell you something. Most publishers and readers aren't looking for this sort of balance the way you seem to be. Personally, I don't think you even want or need such a balance.
I agree, I don't try to balance my work, but I usually feel quite bad if it is not basked in detail. :/
I'm confused here, because it feels like you're equating exposition and detail, and I don't see it that way. I may, of course, be totally misunderstanding.
For humor writing my prose is mostly dialog, with little modifiers to move action, and longer exposition simply to set the "stage". For serious writing I lean the other way; I use purposefully curt dialog between characters, with a lot of exposition for the rest of the story.
I wish mine was more balanced. My ms is very dialogue heavy, with lots of white space. It'd be great to have more description and scene-setting, and I could provide it, too. But the book is too bloody long as it is. Too late! Too late! It must remain as written.
But I don't know, maybe it's okay. My story is character driven, and dialogue works well to work that kind of problem out.
Hehe, no i didn't necessarily disagree, I was just curious on other writers compared to mine, I kind of felt alienated reading through some books with just mountains upon mountains of deatail!
I'm curious about this, how do you have characters connect and bond at face value for the reader then? How is information passed in a non repetitive and unpredictable manner? How do you establish opinions other than the perspective character's?
For humor writing I favor character-driven humor. Where people are isn't as important as their struggle with each other. I try to give the characters goals and desires that clash with other people. Bob wants to go outside and do something, but Sarah wants to sit at home. They argue, but it's snappy and dramatic. I try to make the character's goals believable-- you could take either side-- and neither are the 'bad guy'. You like the characters because they have clear desires, but maybe you love them because they fight and are passionate. For serious writing I internalize a lot of the same depth. The characters ponder a lot more than the say. A huge, chapter-long internalization about money might boil down to. "I can't afford diapers, so I look like a bad parent. My bad luck somehow also makes me a bad person." I feel like this is a more broad question. In short: write creatively. Long version: you just have to come up with interesting ways to describe things, know your pacing, or keep the plot moving. Or even all of that together. Introduce the scent and sound of a forest through exposition as the character walks through it, but outline the history of that same forest with a conversation with a 2nd character, while also revealing the personality of the 2nd character. Again, I think this depends on the more than dialog and exposition. I think a lot of it depends on the POV of the book. In close 1st POV the character's brain and thoughts and feelings and mood should influence everything, down to the dialog tags. 3rd POV: Sarah walked through the swampy forest. "I hate nature." She said to no one. 1st POV: Ever step sucked into rot of this smelly place. "I hate nature." Great. Talking to myself.
