"I Just Wondered How You Got Started Writing? Tips in Your Pursuit of a Writing Career The Art of Writing-Part Three

 Whew!  The writer’s block we dealt with last week is finally out of our system. We are back on track, for now anyway. It is time to discuss our last topic concerning the art of writing, details.  What do I mean by details?

Studying writing and the writer has been an enlightening experience.  I quickly learned that writer’s tend to fall into two categories: people that write with little details in their work and people that are detail addicts.  The second group is by far the larger one but we need to talk about each so we can find balance in our writing.

 My own definition of details are the parts of writing that give us clues as to who, what, where, how and when.  The same thought below appears either with too few details and too many.

     The dog ran.

     The brown, fluffy, long haired cocker spaniel with a slight limp ran clumsily and slowly through the large, flower-filled, green meadow which was south of the algae covered, rain-filled duck pond and north of the big, red hay-filled barn which belonged to farmer Sam.

 The second definition tired me out just writing it.  Let’s first look at the problem with too few details.

 When we use too few details, the reader is left wanting more.  While we want our readers to use their imagination, too little information leads to boredom and to eventually finding another book.  Children’s books can be simple and work for two reasons.  They are designed for children learning to read and are usually full of pictures to help with the imagination.  Adult books need to have details.

 My first attempt at fiction in a novel contained too few details.  The writing instructor told me it read more like an outline and I needed to develop the work.  The one novel turned into two and a half novels after being taken apart and developed with details. 

 Too many details actually have a similar affect as too few.  Trying to read the sentence about the dog running was boring. No reader would want that much information about the simple act of the running dog.  Writing with too many details causes the reader to skip ahead to get to the focus of the story. Reading a book that is extremely detailed drives me crazy as I find myself getting lost in what the writer is trying to say among the adjectives and adverbs.  “Get to the point!” I often want to scream.

 Balance is that key word and two ways to find balance are as follows:

 (1)        Take time to read your story aloud.  Hearing your own voice can help you decide if your sentences are too long and detailed or too short.

(2)        Let someone else read your work.  A person that is unfamiliar with the story can tell you if it makes any sense or not in the area of details.

 Writing is an art that we never reach perfection in.  We should always be learning, studying and trying new ideas and techniques to create our own writing voice…What is a writing voice you may ask?  Check back next week as we discuss finding our voice in writing…