Writers--Too Much Detail is Defeating

Get your ducks in a row!

Do you remember Frank Sinatra's hit song "Little Things Mean a Lot?" If you're of a certain age, you will. Whether you remember the song or not, it's the message in the title and lyrics that are important.

The frustrating thing about writing is that there are so many of those 'little things' that we need to address. We've got to get out ducks in a row, just like our photo today shows.

One 'little thing' writers need to pay strict attention to is putting too much detail into a story. Another term might be 'over-explanation.' There is no need to go into extreme detail when writing a story. For instance, look at the paragraph below:

Hunger pangs hit Jane after she'd been working on her resume for hours. She stood up, walked to the fridge. She opened the door and looked for the ham and cheese. She put them on the counter, then walked back to the fridge and retrieved the mayo and mustard. She closed the door and returned to the counter.  She opened the breadkeeper, removed the loaf, and opened the wrapper......and on and on it goes until the sandwich is made and Jane walks to her chair and sits down again.

Do you see where this is going? All that needed to be said was:

Hunger hit Jane after she'd been working on her resume for hours, so she made a ham sandwich.

Nobody cares that she stood up, walked to the fridge opened the door etc. That information does nothing to move the story along. 

We know that description brings the reader into the scene, that it can give a sense of place. The problem is that some writers get carried away with too many details when describing a place, a building, a garden, or whatever. Remember that old adage 'less is more' which often holds true. We don't need every tiny detail about the garden you're describing. An overall description is fine. 

If you've told your reader that your protagonist has a physical handicap of some sort, there is no need to keep saying it over and over throughout the story. Small allusions are fine but to continue to point it out in detail is unnecessary. 

Why do a few writers overwrite details? For some, it is a matter of insecurity in their writing. They don't trust the reader to 'get it' so they keep repeating the same information, or they put in mundane details like the step by step making of a sandwich and why they do that is a mystery to me.

For others, they love the words they write so much that they can't seem to stop the flow. Sounds funny, but there is truth in that statement. 

Another reason is poor editing. When proofreading, they aren't tuned in to looking for the overwriting or too much detail. Make that part of your checklist for proofreading your drafts and final version.

I've written here many times about cutting words. If you're a writer who uses too much detail, you may have to cut large sections. 

So, get your ducks in a row and sharpen your cutting blade. Pare that lengthy detail. Instead of three paragraphs describing the garden that figures greatly in your story, toss in bits and pieces of detail as you move through the story. The reader will 'get it' just fine. They don't need three consecutive paragraphs of what that garden looks like, smells like, and more.