Your writing is so good! I just started writing myself and I need some tips on how I can keep the stories interesting, yet have a lot of details in it. Thanks so much! -khai (simplyagreste)
thanks so much!! im in no way an expert but i can try to give some tips/advice!
i would say that one way of striking the perfect balance between keeping a story engaging but also keeping it full of details is to avoid explaining too much. i think the compulsion is to pack a story full with details so that your reader knows what’s happening, but sometimes if you do that too much you’re just left with walls of text, info dumps, and descriptions that go on for entire paragraphs.
one good principle to follow is Chekov’s Gun, which essentially says that every element of a story must be necessary, and anything that is unnecessary should be removed. so, for example, it’s often not necessary for you to go into a paragraph long description of the physical appearance of one of your characters unless it’s somehow relevant to the plot or affects a character’s motivation. and it’s also not necessary to give us an in depth description of the fireplace in someone’s house if that fireplace is never going to reappear again.
when it comes to like describing setting, i would say two things. one: figure out how to say more with less by picking good words/metaphors to describe what your characters are seeing. so perhaps “the marbles scattered across the floor like rain down a window pane” instead of going on for a paragraph about how the marbles scattered everywhere all across the room. say something is “putrid” instead of giving us full sentences about how rotten and smelly something is. things like that.
and then two: integrate description with action or filter it through the eyes of a character. so if you’re looking around someone’s room, maybe have them stop in the middle of the room to breath in the smell of old take out containers, have them hear the sound of the fan sputtering to counteract the humidity, have them pick up and read one of the mugs of stale coffee/tea. makes your descriptions more engaging that way. as a general rule, descriptions of your surroundings shouldn’t ever stretch on for paragraphs at a time.
integrating description with action is also a good way to avoid info dumps in regards to like psychological background, history, or pure information about something necessary to understand the plot. dialogue is a really good way of avoiding info dumps. need to explain some strange monster you created for this story? turn it into a conversation. have other characters ask questions and use another character’s answer as a way to give the reader information. want to tell us that a character is in the middle of a divorce and is having constant fights with their partner? show us that. show them talking about divorce papers while arguing about who didn’t pick up the mail.
simple rule of thumb: less is more. when you edit, try to find dense sections and/or long sections and see if there are unnecessary things you can cut and shorter ways of saying the same thing.
sorry that was such a long answer! if anyone else has more advice, add on. and good luck with your writing! :)