12 Aug 10 How Much Detail is Enough, And When It Becomes Boring?

In the last blog post we talked about why it is important to include details in a story or an article. We all seemed to agree that it is in details that real thrill and excitement of a story lies, and it is very, very important for a writer to include details in his or her writing pieces. But in the same article we could see a caveat against including too much detail, for it renders the article or story unreadable.

A write should only include details that take the story forward or which add to the understanding of the story. Rest of the things should not be included. Do not add even a single extra word that does not add to the development of your story or article.

Howe much details

Imagine you are driving a car through the country. What do you see? Do you see entire countryside, or just the thinks visible from the driver’s seat?

Do not force your audience to look sideways, walk behind, and go round and round, just to see every aspect. Your audience does not wish to see every aspect of a situation. She only wants to see what naturally will be visible from where he is standing in the context of story (driver’s seat).

When adding details to a story do not go on writing anything and everything about the subject that comes to your mind or everything that you know, just write what is relevant, and what you see from where you are. Put your blinkers on. The detail that does not add to the progress of story is not worth including.

Avoid adjective shorthand

How many stories, memoirs, articles, or novels have you read that contains adjectives like amazing, wonderful, or spectacular, etc.?

These are useless word that does not say anything. Write “you will not believe how amazingly wow that birthday party was,” and guess what, they will not believe it. Describe the situation, but do not use adverbs or adjectives that are empty of any meaning.

No cliché or dead metaphor please

It holds true for cliché as well. Cliché is called cliché because it is cliché, and people have moved away from it. A phrase or word becomes cliché when there is no emotional juice left in the phrase. Similarly, you should also stay clear of dead metaphors. I would recommend creating your own metaphors — metaphors that say something.

The golden rule here is to not include any dead metaphor, cliché, and unnecessary adjectives and adverbs in your writing. Instead of taking these shortcuts, try to describe the situation or thing in a bit detail for audience to make sense of it, or to get amazed, scared, or astonished. At the same time do not add too many details. It gets boring, after a while.

Tags: Adjective, Adjectives, Adverbs, Audience, Birthday Party, Blinkers, Caveat, Countryside, Dead Metaphor, Driving A Car, Excitement, Guess, Imagine, Memoirs, Novels, Shorthand, Wow