How much is too much detail? It all depends on what you are writing and its genre.
Here’s
a handy rule of thumb...
Short
fiction is a single snapshot of life set in words. Leave the promo video in
words for a novella; the two-hour blockbuster movie, complete with sound and
atmospheric lighting, for the novel.
However,
this doesn’t take into account the genre. A pithy, kick-ass thriller with a
high percentage of dialogue and a non-too realistic take on violence will drown
under detail. A ghost story will come across as limp if atmospheric detail is
removed. Where would an epic fantasy be without the detailed world-building, or
the claustrophobia and mind-numbing routine of interstellar space flight?
Getting
a handle on how much is too much
comes with practice. The big no-no is the info-dump – a page or half a page of
description that no character plays a part in. And that includes characters
standing in front of mirrors describing themselves. That’s pure authorspeak.
Give the reader a break here! A novel is not about its author.
Reading widely within your genre develops mental
boundaries, not just for the genre, but your own reaction to it as a reader. It
also comes from trials.
Come
up with a simple scenario: your focus character leaves his/her home base to
gather supplies. The character is in a calm frame of mind; on the way the
character meets someone who isn’t.
Now
write that as a kick-ass thriller, a ghost story, an epic fantasy, an SF, a
romance, a Western, a....
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