Writing How Important is Description in your Writing?

[Gray_Mann]

Bah, it's an irrelevant detail unless it become relevant. I write stories were the readers can self-insert, so ak the readers what their hair and eye color are. It's only relevant if the story makes it relevant.
I think what the teacher did was hilarious, and good for a class of tiny children, but I don't write books for morons. I don't really care if my adult reader Is stupid enough to think "I drew my sword' means that they grasped a pencil firmly and sketched out a sword on their pad of paper.

Is it arrogant? sure, but IQ 50 readers don't read my stuff anyway.

Irrelevant? If you can't tell me what your own characters look like, than I can't take you as a writer anymore seriously than a skilled painter takes a child with crayons. That's not "hand-holding," or as you said "IQ 50," that's just the basics of creating people to inhabit the world's created for them and their stories. If you are the norm, than it's no wonder the number of reader's, (as well as the average reading level in general really), is declining. Much like the average attention span I suppose.

It's repulsive to me, from a strictly literary sense I mean, that there are probably many people on this site alone, that agree with you.

 

[DireBadger]

Irrelevant? If you can't tell me what your own characters look like, than I can't take you as a writer anymore seriously than a skilled painter takes a child with crayons. That's not "hand-holding," or as you said "IQ 50," that's just the basics of creating people to inhabit the world's created for them and their stories. If you are the norm, than it's no wonder the number of reader's, (as well as the average reading level in general really), is declining. Much like the average attention span I suppose.

It's repulsive to me, from a strictly literary sense I mean, that there are probably many people on this site alone, that agree with you.

Yes, and those people are both readers and writers. Not sure what you have written, since you have nothing posted here, but you haven't read my books, of which there are several here. Might want to tone it down a notch, there, Ebert, or perhaps I should point out that the title of the thread is "How Important is description in your writing'.

I am still trying to figure out what your opinion is, since all you have done is rather insultingly comment on the importance of description in other people's writing.

And the reality is, every single book is different. Sometimes descriptions are important, sometimes they are not. It depends on genre, writer, and style. If I read a milfic, the only reason descriptions exist is to highlight something like "I watched the bullet impact the tree next to Ame's helmet, nearly colorless bark turning bright red and grey from brain matter, before he slipped to the ground in the last peace he'd ever find." and that is both decent writing and a highly effective metaphor.

What Ames looks like is irrelevant to the story, the important part is that he just died to a sniper's bullet. The reader can fill in the rest. Descriptions only 'matter' if they are important to the story... If the protagonist's mother is standing by a counter as she talks to him after school, I am not going to waste the reader's time describing the counter, the cabinets, and the floor unless such a description actually enhances the story, and neither does his hair color or dentistry.

 

[Gray_Mann]

I am still trying to figure out what your opinion is, since all you have done is rather insultingly comment on the importance of description in other people's writing.

I find it insulting that people disregard description as something "optional." Either way, my opinion is self-explanatory. I thought that was obvious. I haven't exactly been subtle.

What Ames looks like is irrelevant to the story, the important part is that he just died to a sniper's bullet.

If he's a main character, or a reoccurring one, than yes, it is important.

If the protagonist's mother is standing by a counter as she talks to him after school, I am not going to waste the reader's time describing the counter, the cabinets, and the floor unless such a description actually enhances the story, and neither does his hair color or dentistry.

No, but you would certainly give at least a sentence describing what the mother looks like. My entire point. Your opinion is just WRONG to me. I suspect I won't enjoy your works if this is your view of descriptive writing. So be it.

Still, I also recognize it is just MY opinion, and I may have gone overboard in expressing it here. We won't agree, which means this discussion can only turn into an argument if it keeps being pressed like so. So I'll drop it here and this will be my last response to you.

I apologize for anything that I've said that seemed antagonistic, likely even in this very post as well. It's hard to avoid being biased about one's own self after all. Either way, I don't want to make this a dispute. It wasn't my intention.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

I find it insulting that people disregard description as something "optional." Either way, my opinion is self-explanatory. I thought that was obvious. I haven't exactly been subtle.

If he's a main character, or a reoccurring one, than yes, it is important.

Not really. I mean, how much do we know about Frodo's appearance, or Jean Valjean's, or most of the Musketeers, or the kids in the Chronicles of Narnia ? Generally you only have a "type" (Heroic, handicapped, hobbit, vampire, kid) and one or two physical traits for an MC in a LOT of stories. Romance and "Strong Jawed Heroic" Adventure stories (which often have some overlap) generally give us the most detail, well, outside of visual medium stories like comic books, movies and television.
A lot of heroes are defined by nothing more than two or three traits and a distinct personality or voice.
And in first person narratives, you may not get that much (what is Randolph Carter's hair color - he shows up in four stories, one a novella, The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath, and yet he's really a cipher, without even that detail).

 

[Juia_Darkcrest]

IMO, you need to find a happy medium between descriptions and advancing your story.

If you are overly verbose in your descriptions of everything, you bog the story down with details and you can end up losing any forward momentum, let alone being able to engage your readers. (Robert Jordans Wheel of Time series, particularly books 6-8 come to mind)

If you are too abbreviated in your descriptions, your work may end up rather plain and spartan, leaving your readers to wonder what is actually happening.

I would guess most anyone on this site are still looking for their 'happy' zone, trying find what they are comfortable writing, while still engaging their readers.

 

[NJ3]

For me, description is really important since I mostly write in third person. It helps set the tone, build atmosphere, and show readers the world through the character’s lens. That said, I’ve been told I sometimes lean a little too hard into it. So lately I’ve been working on trimming things down, keeping what’s essential while letting the story breathe. I’m trying to strike that balance where the details are vivid enough to draw readers in, but not so heavy that they slow everything down. Haven’t quite succeeded yet, but I’ll let you know once I do...?

 

[DireBadger]

For me, description is really important since I mostly write in third person. It helps set the tone, build atmosphere, and show readers the world through the character’s lens. That said, I’ve been told I sometimes lean a little too hard into it. So lately I’ve been working on trimming things down, keeping what’s essential while letting the story breathe. I’m trying to strike that balance where the details are vivid enough to draw readers in, but not so heavy that they slow everything down. Haven’t quite succeeded yet, but I’ll let you know once I do...?

Yeah, third person demands more descriptiveness, but I write mostly in the first person. When a detail is called for, I will dole it out, but I like for my readers to be able to self-insert as much as possible, and in general, they seem to see the appeal. In fact, sometimes some of the 'details' are notable by their absence (In one world, he is notable as the only human... because he came from Earth, and his height, while unremarkable normally, is called frequently to attention because the local average height is barely over 5 feet.)
In another, we know that the protagonist has glandular gigantism, is of a blend of Polynesian and Irish heritage, and shaves his head. He never looks at himself and notes his own description, and only the occasional comment from others provide any 'description', because most people simply don't look at themselves that way unless they are narcissistic. The closest thing to a description is actually my forum avatar, from when he was in prison, a picture that is never going into the book.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

In Strange Awakening, I had a need to have the MC describe ... well, he's just trying to come to grips with the fact that, instead of bleeding out in an alley, he's now a woman who apparently lived most of the same life he did...
But most of my MCs have a general size, hair and eye color, and mention of distinctive traits but not much else (facial hair, favorite jewelry, scarring - or its absence), and a general note on how attractive they are (or are not).