Michael Leask

When writing a scene, how much detail is too much for the reader? I’m not talking about word count. I’m talking about setting up the scene for the reader; fluff and dialogue are another topic. For some writers, this concept goes without saying. I come from an engineering background, and a high level of detail can sometimes creep into my writing. In a draft stage, yes, it’s good, but as something to send out as a manuscript, not so much. Why is it good? It means that I’m thinking of the environment for the characters and understanding their world. Still, I shouldn’t tell the reader that much detail. Let them be entertained and piece it out when I write it effectively.

Too much detail affects the flow of the narrative. It is jarring and boring and makes the heartbeat of the scene flatline. Having too much detail can come across as a report rather than literature. I noticed I had done this in my first edition of ROTP, but I couldn’t tell this wasn’t good at the time.

What am I talking about here? Think of your room. What would you include if you were to write it in novelization form? Will you include the dimensions of the room, every piece of art, and every piece of furniture or book on a bookshelf? What colour are the walls? How high is your bookshelf?

The details of the room should be told to the reader, but in a creative way that lets their imagination build the details and the size of the room.

For example, in the white-coloured bedroom where I’m writing, I can walk around without bumping my shins against the king-size bed with the red duvet; I don’t need to balance as I pass by any furniture.

I didn’t have to mention that my ceiling is sloped, one end is three metres, the other two and a half, or that the area is three metres by five. The king-sized bed is in the middle of the room, against the east wall, and tall armoires are beside it for our clothes. Ambiance is a good word.

Writing out that level of detail in the latter part of the example is boring. Hopefully, in the former part of the description, I wrote an idea for the theatre of the mind to imagine a large unobstructed room where I write. Unless it’s critical to the story, I don’t have to mention anything more, thereby continuing a good narrative flow.

Ultimately, too much detail can kill a story, no matter how much potential or how good an idea is in the story. A writer needs to learn how to balance their description to enhance the flow and the scene and not let the description become the point of the scene.