When I\u2019m reading\nfiction, and I come to a passage of description where the author goes into\nexcruciating (to me) detail; describing every wrinkle in the fabric of a shirt,\nor every knot hole in a tree; I skip it. If I encounter a second such passage,\nI skip it. The third time, unless I\u2019m reading the greatest story ever told\n(and, I\u2019m still waiting to encounter that story), I stop reading. Long,\noverly-detailed passages of description, whether of character, setting, or . .\n. well, just about anything, stop the flow of the story, and leave you\nsuspended in a kind of nether world outside the story, and for me, this is a\ncomplete buzz kill. I suspect that\u2019s so for most readers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I don\u2019t like\ntoo much description, when I write, I try to avoid it as much as possible. This\nis not to say that there is no description in my stories\u2014a certain amount is\nneeded to set the scene for a reader. But, if you\u2019re smart, you will allow the\nreader to use his or her imagination to fill in the details, which, in turn,\npulls them deeper into the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s an example. A\ncharacter enters a house late at night. You wish to show that danger lurks in\nthe shadows in every room. Following the principle of \u2018show, not tell,\u2019 you do\nnot say \u2018danger lurks in every room,\u2019 but nor should you go overboard in trying\nto show that the character is entering a dangerous place. So, how, in a case\nlike this, do you engage the reader\u2019s imagination?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s try something\nlike this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe door made a soft moaning sound as he eased it open.\nHe stepped into the room, and the darkness seemed to reach out and grasp him by\nthe throat, and press against his chest. The dust in the air felt like spiders\ncrawling across his skin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Okay, let\u2019s stop the\ndescription right there, and have our character do <\/em>something, preferable something that evokes a sense of impending\nperil. If you like, you can insert short phrases later on to reinforce the\nsense of danger, just to keep the reader on his or her toes. Get the point? Did\nyou get a few mental images of what lay ahead for this character? That\u2019s how to\ndo it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Same thing goes for\ncharacter descriptions. You don\u2019t have to list every wart or wrinkle on a\ncharacter. Paint it in broad strokes and let the reader fill in the rest,\nespecially for supporting characters. I have a recurring character in my Al\nPennyback mysteries, for example; Mom, the proprietor of the hero\u2019s favorite\nrestaurant. She\u2019s known only as Mom, but some reader feedback tells me that\nsome people think they know her. Here\u2019s how I described her in one book in the\nseries: \u201cMom sat at her usual place at\nthe end of the counter, near the cash register, looking out over her domain\nlike some ancient Ethiopian queen. She wore a bright yellow, one-piece dress\nthat, despite containing enough fabric to make a roomy two-man tent, barely\ncontained her girth.\u201d Can you see<\/em> Mom? \nBet you can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s it for now. Keep\nwriting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When I\u2019m reading fiction, and I come to a passage of description where the author goes into excruciating (to me) detail; describing every wrinkle in the fabric of a shirt, or every knot hole in a tree; I skip it. If I encounter a second such passage, I skip it. The third time, unless I\u2019m … <\/p>\n