As a recent joiner of writing forums, with no formal training or academic qualifications. I would be very interested to know how people in this position approach pushing their work forward? I'm getting to a stage in my book where the story has opened up and some characters are developing well the first four chapters I have written as the third person watching the story and listening to the dialogue. My difficulty is that I am forever bouncing backwards and adding detail or correcting grammar to try and circumvent this I am now using some commercial software, to help with grammar and punctuation which works well. But how much detail is too much. have recently read some work where the story line goes to a restaurant scene the author then goes on to describe the table, table cloth, cutlery, wine list, and menu in almost microscopic detail. ( taking focus off the story and in truth boring the arse off me) the same author seems to use every microscopic detail of bullets. such as the brass cased, copper jacketed, 15 grain, 9 mm, blah blah blah in the super fandango, swiss made, super fantastic, short barrel, quick fire with a German silencer from the cold war spy factory and made somewhere north of the Urals. the same with guns cars and all the other places and equipment. When do other writers stop adding detail, does anyone have rules or guide lines, either self imposed or generally accepted. I would be interested to know . Regards
I think you kind of answered your own question. You mentioned one author that provides way too much detail that it becomes boring. You know intuitively that too little detail and the story is flat, lifeless. So you read, and certain stories strike a great balance, they seem alive without being overbearing. You feel like you are there, in the middle of the conflict. You’re hooked. When you wrote, you will strive to emulate the good example, and avoid the bad ones. You will fail at first, but the more you practice, and the more you read, the more it will come second nature. In short, you are already doing what you need to strike a balance. Keep reading, keeping considering the hard problems, and keep exploring your craft. - MC
For modern day setting, just enough to get the job done. I mean we all kinda know what things are like now, so minimal detail is required to explain 99% of things to get the point across. In Sci-fi it takes a bit more, but not too much unless it is something overly complicated. Sticking to the important bits of information that get to the point without going over board on info-dumping. The way you describe the bullet in every detail, is more like what a person who reviews firearms and ballistics would describe it. Not a character in a piece of fiction that means to use the item for its intended purpose. Sure adding little details about a 'Silencer' (more correctly Suppressor), fall on how detail oriented the character is, and the significance it means to them on a more personal level. Readers only need enough information to work with to get the job done. Remember writing isn't like a visual media, so you don't have the luxury of going into all the finer details of everything. Overall you can get a feel for what will work best for you, by reading an assortment of books by different authors in a genre similar to what you want to write. Gauging on the spectrum of too much detail and not enough, finding your sweet spot in the middle somewhere that gets the point across without being too much or not enough.
I personally detest too much detail. It derails my train of thought. Anne Rice did this a lot and while she is very proficient in prose and I like her style and stories very much, reading a whole paragraph upon a character's sleeve tired the hell out of me. Then there's the other extreme, when a writer doesn't paint anything or describes something (like a setting ffs) very lackingly, which also infuriates me. Problem with that is that I have too many choices to picture something and when I've finally decided what something looks like, in the continuation something brief might be mentioned that might turn my whole effort pointless, for I was wrong about it, but still am unable to be precise about how to picture the setting. And if something exciting as a fight or a battle follows in that setting, especially then, I get completely lost. It's too confusing when you don't have a clear image of where the characters are standing. A reason I am not so fond of reading sci-fi is that actually. The balance is very hard to find. Some writers (Asimov) over analyse everything, which makes some sense since you know... science is part of the genre's title so it has to read as something futuristic that makes sense in contradiction to fantasy, for example there's a difference between a dystopian setting and a utopian one, as well as between a dystopian setting and another dystopian one in the same story perhaps, which should be clearly understood by the reader, furthermore some sort of technology or tools and products they may use routinely, which are non existent in reality (at least not today's reality). What I mean is that "science" is a plot point in sci-fi, be it hard or soft or whatever. It has to be understood at some level at least, because the characters are going to be talking about it a lot. And wandering inside of it actually. Spaceships? Domed cities in Mars? Yep. Settings are extremely important in sci-fi. Anyhow, I think of a book as a movie, but not as a script. It's somewhere in between. How would you write a book of a film you saw? From my pov, every frame counts in a decent film. Even when you don't get it or even perceive it at first glance, but for the sake of conversation let's say you perceive that the director chose to do a rack focus from a character's close up to the vase behind him. It means something. That vase right then and there, is important for some reason, be it symbolic, or psychological, or as a subliminal message or even as the solution to the whole goddamn puzzle. It's there for a reason and not because the director has a vase fetish. Or so I hope. As a writer, if I were to write down this film as a book, in this scene I'd try to slip this vase in somehow, even when it's not simple at all slipping in so irrelevant with the happenings in a scene instruments. I mean, none of the characters paid the least attention to it. It's just part of the background that got highlighted by a director's trick just a second before the scene closes. Go figure how to pull this off. Perhaps a good way is in the beginning as you are describing the setting to give a standing point to the reader (and the atmosphere) to involve the vase in it somehow... with a slight of hand. Some objects might need more detailed description, because they serve as major plot points. An investigator tries to decode a hidden message in a painting, let's say. You have to describe it in detail because that's how the sleuth treats this image. He's looking for signs. Where are they? What does he sees? Some people need detailed descriptions, not because the writer is in love with them, but the MC throughout the story is slowly falling in love with this character and every move that person makes counts. We see how the MC perceives that character. If he perceives the dimples the antagonist makes as he smiles, then we know it for sure now. He might not even realise it yet but he's fucked. He's fallen for that person. Long story short, make descriptions count and preferably not so heavy or detailed for no reason. Sure, describe the setting of course, we need to have a base as readers, but also guide as through it. Direct it wisely.
2/3 of the time detail description is in place because the writer is unfamiliar with the specific word to describe something - or because the writer assumes that their readers are not familiar with the details implied by a specific word. To me, a lengthy description of a corseted, ruffled & bustled gown designed for streetwear with a pettycoat, overcoat & bleached blouse invokes the same exact mental picture as the term "Riding habit". Consequentially, you can create similar "summary words" in your own world that you teach the reader & then regularly apply. Most importantly; An overly lengthy and detailed description does F-all to immerse me in a story or setting and instead serves to disrupt pacing and expose me to a risk of disruption/loss of attention. For all the above, my main guideline to propose is: Whenever possible, communicate details and intricacies through dialogue & actions instead of setting/description. Take it with a grain of salt as I'm a dialogue/drama maniac in general - though I always prefer active communication over passive dumps. Example; you want to communicate that the village your protagonist has just arrived at is in deep poverty. The obvious choice would be to describe villagers with ailing health, gaunt faces - shabby, ran-down buildings, etc. The more "active" choice is villagers approaching your protagonist trying to get some cash through whatever means - begging, theft, scam, etc.
I'm a person who loves prose rich fiction but even I have my limits. For myself as a writer I can't be bothered going into every detail and find that if I get the mood right I will move on. I don't write genre so sometimes my details and 'scene'/'action' are all in one shot. I just finished a scene in which two characters go to a divey restaurant I describe the details in about four sentences to set the mood and then start in on the dialogue interspaced with action. How I keep it short and sweet is giving details that shape a tone. The dust on the flowers in the restaurant is for me one of the most important details because it points to the character's first meal with the mc. It's a link.
Depends on the story. Some are more moody and descriptive. Others are more action-packy. Doesn't bother me at all when Faulkner or McCarthy go honey badger for the detail. Those are the stories they tell, and that detail and mood kind of depend on it. If I don't want that, I'll go read Stephen King or Don Winslow.
To add to the other posters and at the risk of blowing my own horn, I recently wrote a piece here on WF about using details. Maybe you'll find it useful. https://www.writingforums.org/threads/the-importance-of-details-in-writing.165962/
