Editorial: Details: How Important Are They?
By Allen Straith
Every agent, every writing teacher will tell one common thing: write those details! Tell the reader how the scene is, but is that true? It is something I have been pondering on for sometime, and is something we should all think about. Let me tell you why I started thinking this, and then explain it some more.
I haven’t always been a reader, but have always been a storyteller of shorts. I loved writing stories, love watch TV and movies to see a wonderful story unfold. But reading? It was boring. Why? I still don’t know, but it wasn’t until I read Thr3e by Ted Dekker that I understood why so many loved reading. So I started reading more from this author. The more I read, the more I understood writing.
I know that is something all of you know, that one must read to write, but there is more. As i began to read more, I began to talk about it more freely. I began showing my friends the books I was reading, and bugging my mom to read the novels I read. One day, she said something to me, “Sometimes I have to skip all the detail and just read the important stuff.”
And then a thought poked into my mind, although I didn’t pay much attention to it: “Do writers need to write it, then?” I went along with my life, and started to talk with my friend about my writing. He said I sucked, lol, maybe I did. But he said the actual plot was right on, just the writing needed to be polished. he told me how he read Lord of the Rings, and that the writer gave too much details...how he just skipped over that part.
The thought popped back into my mind. So I began asking the question, researching what my friends liked. And they all said the same, even the people who didn’t like reading said it was because they didn’t have the patience to sit down and read it all (not EVERYone who doesn’t like reading, but just some). Which gets me to my point: Why should we dedicate hours and hours on writing paragraph upon paragraph of detail, when most people skip it and use their imaginations to create the scene? Maybe, just maybe, the reader is actually better at making the scene then you.
So I thought even more about this subject. What should a writer do? Go against what everyone says, not tell about the scene? Or just let the reader skip something I work so hard on? The answer wasn’t easy. In fact, it took a year or so to come up with what I have -- and I am still perfecting the technique.
Maybe the answer is both. Maybe, instead of commanding the imaginations of our readers, we should use that as our tool. Maybe instead of having out “details” as option read, maybe the little detail we give sparks their imaginations in a general but fascinating direction.
So I believe as writers we should spend hours on demanding readers read every word we write -- but how? First off, forget the million paragraphs to set scenes alone. Not saying you shouldn’t do so, though, I usually start a story with some sort of description to pull the reader into the tale I am weaving. But make the description within the action, within the story. If your writing ing first person, only write details that a person would notice. No one will notice a bug crawling on the ground, but hey will notice a bird chirping in a tree. And, even when your writing in other POV’s, keep the details in terms where people will see, and have the other details filled out in the readers head.
As my conclusion, I would like to add a note. This is still a working hypothesis. I am still forming my ideas, still perfecting the technique I am perusing.
By Allen Straith
Every agent, every writing teacher will tell one common thing: write those details! Tell the reader how the scene is, but is that true? It is something I have been pondering on for sometime, and is something we should all think about. Let me tell you why I started thinking this, and then explain it some more.
I haven’t always been a reader, but have always been a storyteller of shorts. I loved writing stories, love watch TV and movies to see a wonderful story unfold. But reading? It was boring. Why? I still don’t know, but it wasn’t until I read Thr3e by Ted Dekker that I understood why so many loved reading. So I started reading more from this author. The more I read, the more I understood writing.
I know that is something all of you know, that one must read to write, but there is more. As i began to read more, I began to talk about it more freely. I began showing my friends the books I was reading, and bugging my mom to read the novels I read. One day, she said something to me, “Sometimes I have to skip all the detail and just read the important stuff.”
And then a thought poked into my mind, although I didn’t pay much attention to it: “Do writers need to write it, then?” I went along with my life, and started to talk with my friend about my writing. He said I sucked, lol, maybe I did. But he said the actual plot was right on, just the writing needed to be polished. he told me how he read Lord of the Rings, and that the writer gave too much details...how he just skipped over that part.
The thought popped back into my mind. So I began asking the question, researching what my friends liked. And they all said the same, even the people who didn’t like reading said it was because they didn’t have the patience to sit down and read it all (not EVERYone who doesn’t like reading, but just some). Which gets me to my point: Why should we dedicate hours and hours on writing paragraph upon paragraph of detail, when most people skip it and use their imaginations to create the scene? Maybe, just maybe, the reader is actually better at making the scene then you.
So I thought even more about this subject. What should a writer do? Go against what everyone says, not tell about the scene? Or just let the reader skip something I work so hard on? The answer wasn’t easy. In fact, it took a year or so to come up with what I have -- and I am still perfecting the technique.
Maybe the answer is both. Maybe, instead of commanding the imaginations of our readers, we should use that as our tool. Maybe instead of having out “details” as option read, maybe the little detail we give sparks their imaginations in a general but fascinating direction.
So I believe as writers we should spend hours on demanding readers read every word we write -- but how? First off, forget the million paragraphs to set scenes alone. Not saying you shouldn’t do so, though, I usually start a story with some sort of description to pull the reader into the tale I am weaving. But make the description within the action, within the story. If your writing ing first person, only write details that a person would notice. No one will notice a bug crawling on the ground, but hey will notice a bird chirping in a tree. And, even when your writing in other POV’s, keep the details in terms where people will see, and have the other details filled out in the readers head.
As my conclusion, I would like to add a note. This is still a working hypothesis. I am still forming my ideas, still perfecting the technique I am perusing.
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