Unsolicited writing advice, no. 186: Always try to be aware of how much you're telling the reader. Is it enough? Is it too much? Are you feeding them just the right amount, or are you overwhelming them with unnecessary detail? If in doubt, just ask yourself: "Why do they need to know this?"
I'm not a book editor, but if I was, that's the first advice I would give a new writer. And relatedly, when you write characters based on people you know - well, really, don't. But if you must, consider that a bundle of personal characteristics doesn't necessarily make a coherent character.
Where was this when Victor Hugo was writing? My UNABRIDGED copy of Les Mis has like 26 pages the publisher chopped & moved to the back of the book bc it didn’t have anything to do w anything. He just liked to describe things until you no longer cared about them. He clearly didn’t trust his readers.
Good advice when one needs to write to the IRS.🙃
This becomes difficult when you're neurodivergent and may not know the answer to these questions because you don't think like everyone else. That's why I enjoy feedback and get frustrated without it. I don't know if I have told a story that others can understand.
This is why we all need editors and beta readers…
Reminds me of the old joke from GWs days: What are the Secret Service instructions if GW dies? Sh**t Dan Quayle.
Proposed amendment to that question: "Why do they need to know this *now*?"
Thank you- I'm so struggling with when and how much at any given time.
I think it helps to keep asking yourself where the story starts, where it ends, and what it needs to do to get there…
AND you've nailed my other beast! I've started four different ways- all of them used farther in. I've been finding it, as you said, "a sign that the characters, and not the author, have taken possession of the story." But I'm hopeful I've arrived where they live at last.
*Victor Hugo intensely disliked this*
I *may* have skipped some pages in his lengthy discussion of the sewers of Paris in Les Mis…
The answer may be either: "Because it's going to be useful later on," or: "Because it provides insights into a character", or: "Because it expands the view of the world." But if you can't think of an answer, ask yourself what the reader would lose if you just binned it.
And this is why I stopped reading the girl with the dragon tattoo series. I simply could not care and drowned in all the details about the coffee makers.
"How many times have you already made this point so far" is another one.
Yes, we are discussing 'Spoilt Creatures' by Amy Twigg at book group yesterday and the main complaint was not enough back story to understand the actions and motivations of the characters🤔
I've been guilty of not telling people enough at times (I think my brain occasionally forgets that just because I know a thing doesn't mean the reader will)
So true, when I wrote my first draft of my first book I wrote about every day, every moment of my pro's journey. I felt I needed to fill it all out, to give a journal like account of her story. I cut so much in my second draft (though saved it in case it can prompt later stuff).
That said... I hve the 1st draft of my 3rd book sat on my computer now and that is the same... but for 4 pro's... It's huge. I guess writing it to cut it is my process.
A sound snippet of advice. Thank you!
Someone should have had a word with Tolkien about this
I need to try him again. I read him when I was annoyed w Hugo’s over-describing everything and how little he trusted his readers. But I recognize now that Tolkien was at least world-building so maybe some of it was necessary. Unlike Hugo, who just kept describing unremarkable walls in Paris.
Good luck... I tried LotR 3x and every time got stuck at the same point in book 2 - just too bored to continue. But the thing is, what I found insurmountably tedious must be an acceptable level of detail for other people because those books are hugely popular. No accounting for taste 😉
😂 Yeah…it really bored me bc it didn’t let me use my imagination much. It was a lot of adjusting how I was picturing things. i just couldn’t get into it. I’m AuDHD and I think the ADHD part was bored w the minutiae while the Au part was insulted he didn’t trust me to imagine properly. 🤷🏼♀️
I was thinking about that last night as I was reading (which is just going to the gym for a writer)... I read a scene where the description wasn't overly detailed, but I still saw the scene clearly; as the passage went on, with the actions of the characters, they threw in another little detail...
It was like watching a painter thoughtfully applying little dabs here and there. Then there are other authors who describe a thing to death, and I can't get into the scene or acknowledge the characters 'cause there was an exceptional lamp. The lamp had no bearing in the story. All about balance.
If you are extremely talented I'd be careful with this. Authors like John Connolly or Terry Pratchett draw worlds that draw you in. Plot is what happens within those worlds. Most of us aren't that talented so too much detail is just too much.
So tricky! Because readers are all different as well. But in graphic novels we get a cheat code: the script is pared right back with only absolutely essential dialogue. Then in the art we can go ✨wild✨ with detail - leaving it up to the reader how much they choose to linger and take in
📌
cc: @ stephenking
One to remember is what the reader knows vs what the characters know, especially if you do chance povs.