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How much description is too much?
She sat in the big blue chair, twirling her long brown tresses around her right pointer finger, and from her chestnut brown eyes she stared listlessly out the green-curtain clad window. Rewrite this to suit your idea of the perfect amount of description.
The reader needs to know she has a quirk of twirling her hair, the color of her hair doesn't matter, and staring out the window lets a reader know she is deep in thought over something, her eye color isn't relative and neither is the curtains.
A drastic rewrite.
She stared out the window.
What needs to be Conveyed?
Think about what will further the story. What is needed to convey and accurate view of what's happening. The reader needs to know she's listless and what she does to show this.
She twirled her long tresses as she focused on a tiny spot outside the outside the window.
3 Comments on Help or Hinder--Lots of Description, last added: 8/31/2010
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Love the post. Well written. And yes, too much descriptions can tax a reader's attention span.
Thanks Henya. It does.
To be honest, when there is a lot of description, I just jump down to the "real story." Sorry all you writers out there. A little is ok, but if it goes on, I think it hurts the book. Just my opinion.