Need Help

I really need help with details, I can easily tell you the end, but I have trouble getting there.

Details are what make a story. No amount of narration, action, and storytelling technique can save a story that does not have a good balance of detail. It is a tricky thing to do at times; too much detail can weigh down a story, but too little detail can drive away a potential reader.

When writing a story, you should do try to keep your details on a "need to know" basis.

An example of too much detail-

The tulip was bright red, with pistils jetting outward. Its petals were oh so gently curled around itself as droplets of water dripped from its petals. The stem of the flower was huge, wide, and of a gentle lime. On this stem was carved a small heart-shaped marking. Further down below, there was another small carving on one of its leaves; this time, a star. As one went further down the flower, one could see small swirling patterns as it made contact with the earth.

Do we really care about all of the markings on the tulip? Unless those markings have some sort of plotline significance, throw it out. When one is so detailed that they need to be exact, the story becomes not only a chore to write, but a chore to read.

On the other hand, we need enough detail in the story to paint a picture. A writer is an artist of words; their paper or word processor of choice their canvas, their pen or keyboard their paintbrush, their words the actual paint itself.

An example of not enough detail-

The tulip was red with squigglies on it.

Is that sentence very exciting? No. It was a bore for me to write, and it is a bore for people to read. It's too basic of a sentence to draw anyone in. If we cannot draw anyone into the story, then a writer has failed at his craft.

The tulip was red with curled petals. On its leaves were markings of various shapes and sizes. Further down the stem of the flower, glyphs in the shape of swirls glowed white in the twilight as they traced their way to the earth below.

This is perfect. We have enough detail to paint an image, but not too much to weigh it down. The actual wording could be tweaked slightly, but it gets the point across.

Ok, thanks, I'll get to work on that in my next chapter and in future fan fics, thank you!

Originally Posted by zeldamaster17

Ok, thanks, I'll get to work on that in my next chapter and in future fan fics, thank you!

A good idea to get in the habit of is actually going back and editing previous chapters. You've already made the errors, therefore you might as well take the time to fix them. By doing that, it also shows people that you're willing put forth the extra effort to improve your work. That, and by setting that advice for the future, that opens up the opportunity for you to forget the advice given to you.

Usually when someone mentions previous errors in my own writings, I try and fix them ASAP. That way, any potential readers who happen to stumble upon my work don't have to weed through earlier errors to see improvement.

I hope that helps. :3

Thanks, I'll go do that now!

Ok, I fixed the typos in the prologue, Ch. 1 and 2, and added detail to 1 and 2. I'll fix the rest later, probably tomorrow. I'll have it done by the next chapter.