Filling in Detail and Benefits of Editing
By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
Detail and description is, I think, a little tricky. Two of my series require a lot of it because of the nature of the subgenre. The quilting mysteries and the Memphis barbeque series are both cozy series with a series hook (crafting and cuisine). My editors for those series have mentioned to me many times that readers of these series really appreciate a good deal of description in terms of the hook. My most current editorial letter asks me for more detail on the quilts the characters are working on, for instance.
On the other hand, my self-published Myrtle Clover mysteries don’t have a series hook (I’ve wondered before if this were a reason the series was dropped by the publisher years ago). The descriptions I use for the characters and settings are sketchier—more of the types of descriptions I like as a reader. I like to get just enough so that I can mentally say, “Oh, okay. So that character sort of resembles my Uncle Joe. Got it.”
Here are examples of the kinds of detail my editor wanted elaborated in the book that will release later this year:
More detail on the festival described in the book. Where is it held in the town? How many acres does it take up? Could I describe the bluegrass musicians?
Describe the new quilters that are at a workshop that’s being sponsored at the quilt shop. Show readers what they’re working on.
Since one character is a professional florist, what does her yard look like?
More description on a character who is a suspect in the book. Since this character is also marrying a recurring series character, my editor also wanted a bit of backstory fit into dialogue: how did these characters meet? When were they engaged?
In addition, sometimes I’m too quick to end a scene that isn’t directly tied into the mystery or that might further develop a relationship.
Some examples from my edit letter:
Show more of the bonding of my protagonist and another important character.
How does the constant canceling by the protagonist’s boyfriend bother the protagonist?
Show the protagonist’s daughter comforting her mother following a frightening event.
Show the protagonist and her boyfriend finally enjoying a lunch together…their conversations.
Show more of the hour the protagonist and her boyfriend spend together at the festival.
Instead of saying that the protagonist’s daughter and the protagonist shared a nice dinner, show the dinner happening and what was said.
It seems that I’d rather tell instead of show when:
The scene doesn’t have direct relevance to the mystery
It covers something I feel I’m not particularly adept at writing…romance, for instance, or description.
I know that I’m a writer who likes to stay on-task and on-topic and who is especially focused on the story’s mystery. Although I know these things to be true about myself (because, really, of the last six years of reading edit letters and comments from editors in Track Changes), it’s still hard sometimes to gauge where elaboration would be useful versus where it would just bog down the story. My personal preference is for very little description, but then I read customer reviews where the readers rave about ‘feeling as if they were there.’ That wouldn’t have happened if my editors hadn’t pushed me to fill in more of the detail.
The more I write detail and, yes, the more I write the romantic subplot, the better I get. As with anything. I clearly shouldn’t just avoid it if I’m insecure about it. It’s an opportunity to learn and develop as a writer.
I know now that one of the reasons the readers are buying the crafting cozies and the culinary cozies are for those descriptions. They want to feel the texture of the fabrics and taste the barbeque. This was just something I didn’t completely understand about the subgenre that I write. It’s not all about the mystery.
So…I’m thinking this applies to other genres too. Obviously we all need description in our books. And sometimes we need to veer off the main plot to expand on relationships in our stories. Maybe there’s a horrible virus that’s wiping out the planet…but expounding on the relationships or alliances formed during the race for survival will flesh the characters out and make them real to readers. And make readers care more about the outcome. Keep them reading.
The amount that’s required may vary, according to our genre or subgenre. Whatever it takes to hook our readers, to make our world and our characters real to them…that’s what we’ve got to deliver. And an editor who’s very familiar with our genre can help us figure out what level that is. Readers help with this, as well…I’m one for monitoring the customer reviews on Amazon for research.
How much detail, background, and relationship-oriented scenes do you offer readers? How do you gauge whether you’re on-target?
Image from Death to the Stock Photo: Seattle
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