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Description is where I struggle most. I often write an entire short story before realizing I failed to offer a physical description of anything. I just get so into the plot and character development that I simply forget completely about description. I realize this is a problem.
Even though this is literary fiction, I don't write long beautiful sentences. In fact, I tend to write short sentences and direct prose. After the fact, I have been trying to add in some description, but, to be honest, I'm not sure how much of it is needed.
I got feedback from a story once where I was told the male characters in my piece didn't stand out enough from each other. So, I added some physical descriptions. I've been told something similar about a few of my settings.
I want to maintain my minimalist approach to writing, but I don't want to hurt my chances of publishing because I don't have enough description. How do you find the balance? How much description do you write? How do you know when it is needed and when you can skip it?
Even though this is literary fiction, I don't write long beautiful sentences. In fact, I tend to write short sentences and direct prose. After the fact, I have been trying to add in some description, but, to be honest, I'm not sure how much of it is needed.
I got feedback from a story once where I was told the male characters in my piece didn't stand out enough from each other. So, I added some physical descriptions. I've been told something similar about a few of my settings.
I want to maintain my minimalist approach to writing, but I don't want to hurt my chances of publishing because I don't have enough description. How do you find the balance? How much description do you write? How do you know when it is needed and when you can skip it?
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