Writing Tips

Too Little or Too Much?

I'd like to start off with saying I'm sorry. It's been since October since I last updated, and I feel like crap for not getting a helpful chapter out.

If you have any requests, then please message me or comment them!

And another thing before I start this part officially... Thank you for 2k reads! I'm so glad people are finding help from this book!

Now to start this bloody chapter.... >.>

When should we be low in detail or go into depth on something?

First off... Never do dumps of detail, that's one of the worst things to read from my experiences besides a chapter long backstory. I can only see an exception being when describing a room, but even then, you must limit your description.

Don't be so vague that it seems like white space, but also don't say so much that we can't even make the picture because of how much is in it.

Saying "green walls" for example is simple and good enough detail, even specifying the shade of green is okay, like "emerald," or "pea-green." But don't do it as "faded absinthe walls," I seriously wouldn't know absinthe is a shade of green unless I looked it up (I actually did look it up in the color dictionary app just for this example).

So when adding subtle details like color, keep it to basic shades readers would know. I'm always keeping track of that myself when writing, but then again... I can't keep using sapphire to describe blue. xD

But there's more than just colors when writing, isn't there, correct? We also have textures, flavors, design, plants, animals, heights, and everything else visual.

Usually, when describing people, you would say basics like eye color, hair, possibly skin tone, and their dressing habits. Sometimes you may include height.

A good way to describe height (in my opinion at least, don't quote me on this) is by saying some of the following:

He stood just a few inches above her.

Maddi was always taller than Helen when wearing heels.

No one would believe that Jared was seven feet tall.

These are good ways of saying someone's height. Just plain out saying someone is 5'4" or something like that disrupts the text. Numbers in number form seriously screw me up when reading, anyone else prefer it spelled out?

Okay, okay. Need to stay on subject! >.>

Other ways with talking about someone's physical appearance is by saying one of their traits at some point other than in a detailed dump.

Here are some basic examples:

The blonde blushed at the compliment.

Her brown eyes scanned the room.

He noticed how pale she truly was once seeing where the sun had not kissed her.

These are simple and easy hints to show what the characters look like while also adding on to make it seem more interesting if desired.

Now, onto objects...

These can either be way too plain or too complicated it gives the reader a headache. Some are as simple as a chair to some complicated description of an ultra pure gold necklace with diamonds, rubies, and sapphires. <-- See how it's complicated?

You need to stick to an in-between while throwing in some simple descriptions from time to time in order to keep your reader interested while not making their head explode while trying to make an image in their head. Sometimes you can go into higher detail, but it's important to not shove a whole bunch of detail at the reader at once.

If I may write a little example...

Jane walked down the sidewalk with no particular interest in her surroundings. All the houses had the same gray siding and the same square windows. It wasn't until she spotted a house different from the others. The house had almost no siding, and the parts that did could barely hold onto the plastic anymore.

"What happened here?" Jane asked herself before walking up the pathway to the obviously burned house.

She went up to the charred door, brushing ash off of the rusty doorknob before pushing it open. The inside was just dreadful as she caught a glimpse of it. The wallpaper was curled and some sections were burned off. Beams of wood were of different sizes and lengths depending on how blackened they were. This was definitely she had to call her friend about.

See? It has some basic, in-between, and somewhat complicated detailing in it. And you got a pretty good image in your head, right?

This is a good way to describe in detail and it's always good to continue practicing.

To continue on getting better at detailing and not overwhelming a reader, try describing something in your head when you see it and keep doing it. It's good practice and will hopefully help you improve.

Well... That's about all I can think of for help in the detailing depatment. Please comment below on things you wish for me to discuss in this tipp book!