Is being very descriptive a necessity in this sort of writing?

[AudreyTheDaydreamer]

In my time writing I have found that I don't want to take more than a paragraph to describe a given person or thing when setting a scene, as it feels like a drag when I do so. I like to be concise, and leave the readers to fill in the blanks, but have received some criticisms on being more descriptive. I also like to drop little bites of description as the scene plays out. Are there any essentials or rules I could keep in mind for this purpose, or is it just a matter of personal taste and writing style?

 

[A. E. Lowan]

It's part you and part genre conventions dictating what the readers are expecting from any book in your subgenre. If you're new to writing Fantasy you're going to want to take a deep look dive into what's out there and what rules your genre, and then pick at it so you can figure out why. My team writes Urban Fantasy. I'm the drafter, so most of this is my fault. Urban Fantasy tends to be a little on the lighter side of Fantasy. Readers expect faster pacing and shorter language. Long words tend to slow pacing and it can be difficult for some writers to rebuild momentum. We call it 'thriller pace,' and the entire idea is to grab the reader and drag them from one end of the book to the last, running and dodging and ducking all the way.

However, my mama raised a fancy pants writer, so I write pretty, floral prose with the flexibility of a contortionist while engaging in literary gymnastics until the narrative just sings.

And then my wife comes and fixes all that.

Fantasy as a genre has some special perks. We need extra time for world building, so Fantasy tends to be longer and have expectations of length that the others mostly don't. It's a big tent, though, so there's lot of room for flexibility. Just don't bank on that right out the gate. None of us are as talented and intelligent as we think we are.

Or, maybe that's just me? lol

If you're getting bored with your description, so's your reader. No matter the genre, unless one is describing every flipping tree in the spooky wood for reasons terrible and unclean, all you need to give the reader are the important bits. The salient bits. I think I may need to up my description game in the next book, though. We have a character who shocks pretty much everyone when I ask, "Can I get a show of hands from everyone who thinks Brian is white?" It's important to me that I get it right. I want to keep it just the facts, but I also will pick something small and make it large in importance.

Something like this. You're going to see a lot of the pace shfting with the mental camera moving around to both control the reader's perceptions by pointing them at the shiny thing while the real action is happening elseware. This is cut from a larger bit, but I hope it's useful.

Also, welcome to Fantasy.

~~~

The flowers were gone, crushed underneath the tread of thousands of impatient feet. Etienne’s attention was caught and held for a moment by a single remaining daisy, petals tarnished by dirt. He tapped it clean with the tip of his boot. It and all the rest would return in time, more lavish and headier with perfume than ever.

Blood made the flowers grow.

The three armies were arrayed along the little stream, facing each other from just beyond arrowshot. Etienne stood a few paces behind Vragí, the young chief who had challenged Ráthulfr for kingship, as he let out another call to his clan, wild and raging. The ranks of dwarven berserkers responded, brandishing their weapons and shaking them at the sky as their roaring vibrated in Etienne’s bones. They would be the first to cross the stream, the frontline formed of explosive violence released against the lines of Seelie conscripts, mostly armed only with farm equipment and barely two leather helms among the lot...

To Etienne’s right a few ranks away stood Brian in the centermost position, intelligent eyes taking in the field. Their chief chainsaw. Throwing a Hero at the enemy ranks was probably overkill, but Etienne could deal with that. No kill like overkill. Not when you wanted to survive.

Not when you needed to win...

Out of the corner of his eye, Etienne saw Ráthulfr raise Regal high above his head and then snap the axe downward. Horns sounded from one end of their line to the other, nonsense words from their new playbook were shouted, and the gathered armies lumbered forward in somewhat of an orderly fashion, considering the haste in throwing the force together, taking the first steps to cross the stream. Etienne held back for an instant, waiting for a hopped-up berserker to move past between himself and Drános.

The daisy was crushed.

The war drums sounded, setting the pace, and the mob stepped it up. The berserkers were the first to break the uneven line, rushing forward to engage, screaming, weapons raised.

Etienne frowned. Why weren’t the Seelie adv—

A flicker of movement on the other bank and the stream exploded.

 

[Mad Swede]

In my time writing I have found that I don't want to take more than a paragraph to describe a given person or thing when setting a scene, as it feels like a drag when I do so. I like to be concise, and leave the readers to fill in the blanks, but have received some criticisms on being more descriptive. I also like to drop little bites of description as the scene plays out. Are there any essentials or rules I could keep in mind for this purpose, or is it just a matter of personal taste and writing style?

I got the same criticism from my editor when we were working to get my first book ready for publication. Her guidance was fairly simple. Add the details to the text at the appropriate points, don't have long blocks of descriptive text. Build the readers immersion in the setting gradually. Focus on smaller details, peoples appearance, sights around the characters, sounds, tastes and smells.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

You can write for as much or as little detail as you 'want' but keep in mind that your editor will know a lot about what your book needs to be able to sell.
It's kind of their job, but you also don't have to follow their advice to a 'T' at least I don't think. Depends on the patience level of your editor and how hard they're willing to work to make your story 'sellable'

The most common advice I see here is 'get the rough draft done and then fix it later' and this area is one of those things that would be in the 'fix it later' bits.
I'd like to think I don't put too much or too little detail into any one character, but I try to describe characters who are important to the story with more detail, even if they won't be relevant until three chapters later.

 

[pmmg]

As always, this is an art and not a science, so there really is no rule. You need to establish your writer's voice and the details should flow from that.

One thing you might keep in mind if you are looking for rules is the rule of three, which works in a lot of scenarios, but in description, kind of means, everything gets three descriptors. More is too much, and less often does not have the right beats to it.

The chair was large, sturdy and made of wood--just perfect for breaking over someone's back.

Why does the rule of three work? I dont know...its just a psychology thing. It rings right. Course if you use it too much it will start to glare, but generally, its good to try and keep things in threes.

 

[skip.knox]

My advice is not to pay much attention to advice or criticism until you have a completed story. Until then, stay focused on the page in front of you and get the thing done. After all, how can anyone say you don't have enough description--of a setting or character or whatever--until they've read the whole work?

 

[Prince of Spires]

It is definitely a matter of style. However, if you have received reliable feedback from readers who are familiar with your genre that they are missing bits of information, then it's definitely something to look into.

You want to avoid white room syndrome, where two characters are interacting with each other, but we don't know anything about where they are or what they're doing. We need a few basics at a minimum. Also, readers in general don't like being surprised by random things jumping into a scene that had been there all along.

For instance, say you have a king talking to the queen for a few pages. As they're wandering through the room towards the window they're discussing how to deal with the incursion of rebels along the northern border for two or three pages. Then, the king gets stabbed to death by the guard who had been standing by the window the whole time.

This scene wouldn't work. The reader would feel jerked out of the story with the guard suddenly appearing out of the blue. Now this doesn't mean you have to describe everything in the room to the last detail. However, you do need to mention the guard, even just in passing. Something like "What if we send the alterran regiment?" the king asked as the passed the guard standing by the window would work just fine. Then you can have the guard do something. Though of course, if you want to increase the tension, you could hint that something's off with the guard. Maybe he looks different to the king. Spend just a bit more time on it than a single mention. That would make the reader pay attention as well.

The rule of three is indeed often cited (though it's more like guidelines). Give us a few well crafted details, not a shopping list. The reason it's 3 has to do with how well average people remember random bits of information. If you give more than 3 items, then people are likely to forget a few of them (or all of them as they're juggling the pieces). Less means you can't paint as vivid a picture.

The best way to get specific answers is to get feedback on a section. You can post it on the site here in the critique section, or you can ask people elsewhere.

 

[minta]

I think not necessarily. Description should serve the story, not overwhelm it. Balanced, purposeful description is usually more powerful than lengthy detail.