Writing.Com General Discussion

Ditto to everything Dawn said. I'd add this nugget:

When I add detail, I always ask myself, "is it necessary?"

In general, I show enough detail that the reader can understand enough for their brain to fill in the blanks. I usually don't mention the skin colour of a character unless it is crucial to the plot, nor the hair colour unless it is either crucial or I'm injecting some kind of subconcious symbolism (e.g. in my story 'Karyn', Emma (protagonist) is blonde, Karyn (antagonist) is raven haired - the good old white-hat, black-hat routine, which I will later challenge).

The same goes for the environment. There are usually two pieces of information you want to establish in a scene - what the environment looks like, and what the atmosphere is, both of which can be aided by showing detail:

"Charlie stood in the middle of the snow-crusted street. Trees cast long shadows, causing the lamps to create small pools of light."

Note I haven't counted the trees, mentioned whether there were parked cars or other pedestrians or if the moon was out or it was cloudy. I have painted a scene, sufficient for you to fill in the blanks, and also created an atmosphere which could equally be serene or suspenseful. Context provided by other sentences will help the reader decide which atmosphere to go for. The fact it is night hasn't been spelled out, it is inferred. Some readers will see snow falling, others won't, but you can correct that if you need to, but do you need to? Remember, allowing the reader to create the world in their head is much easier when you let them do it, rather than forcing your vision on them. Give them enough to go on, then let them fill in the blanks.

Another thing you should always watch out for, is if the amount of detail stops the story dead in its tracks while you paint those details. You should always focus on the story and keep it moving. If the scene of Charlie in the street continued for another two sentences, it might paint a beautiful picture, but the story is on hold and the reader will feel that.

As Dawn said, over the top description isn't a problem in a first draft. If you aim for perfect on the first shot, you'll cripple those free-flowing energies that make your stories good. Great writing always come from editing.