It's all in the detail

There are two types of detail, description and then the small fine detail amongst the rest of the narration. It is important to figure out your own line between too little and too much. It does lie amongst personal preference, for example, I don't get along with The Hobbit because there is too much description. I find it really difficult to get through because I am more interested in the action when I am reading, which is why I try and make my own writing quite action orientated. This is a blessing and a curse, I have been criticised for not having enough description.

The tip for getting the balance right is by reading books around what you are writing, this gives you an idea of what you need to do for your own book. See what people are interested in, do they want the long description to draw them into the background of the story, or do the audience need action to keep them in the game? Once you figure this out you can change the way you write the book. You can add in small little details that capture the essence of the character, rather than explaining everything about them.

Characters are the hardest to describe because you don't want it to be predictable, typical brown hair blue eyes. I avoid that like the plague because readers immediately roll their eyes because the character becomes like every other character they have read about. It's all about getting that one detail that puts your characters above all the rest, creating characters and making them three dimensional is important for the readers to relate to them. Tell the reader about scar they got from fighting when they were fighting as a child, or perhaps their nose is a little out of joint because they crashed their bike. These small details resonate with the reader.

It's the smaller details they remember, telling the reader what colour hair they have doesn't matter unless it is very important to the storyline of course. Use their facial features to tell how old they are, do they have stubble? Do they have a full beard or a mustache? These are all telltale signs of their age and what they possibly think of themselves.

Have a go at creating different characters with these different features and see if the image you had in your head changes.

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