Louis tried writing, then gave it up when it turned out to be hard work.

[sophilos]

There is real drudgery in writing. The only way I know to cope with it is to eliminate every shred of it that I can.

I have almost completely stopped writing place descriptions and sheer continuity, ie following the viewpoint character's every move.

Unless it crashes or someone enters the Mile High Club, you can assume the airplane flight in my story was much like your last one -- and your next one. In Amateur Venue, the viewpoint character flies charter. Whether it was her plane, a seat negotiated via website, or a favor allowed by a friend does nothing to highlight the conflict or advance the plot.

Going to the length of a novelette/novella/full novel, you have more room for detail. To me, this is time to develop the fine character points and sharpen the central conflict and all of the relationships that influence it or depend on it.

Lyssa, like anyone in a new and nearly overwhelming relationship, is a little jealous of Summer. Suppose the only compatibility they share is sexual. Does Lyssa try to control Summer? Or does she branch out fresh? Does she join a dungeon in LA? What if the paparazzi track her and and start public speculation about what one of Hollywood's dimmed-but-still-shining starlets is doing weekly behind the green door?

Or I can extend the conflict to a neglected or a new character.

Perhaps, for instance, the plane flight came out of Joey's fractional ownership. She will want to know how the whole situation worked itself out. Lyssa has a dilemma. Does she show her friend the rough disc, or just the finished clip? Does her friend react with revulsion? Unalloyed sympathy? Or perhaps Lyssa sees just a slight prurient glint in Joey's eye.

Perhaps she also sees that Joey betrays a sensitivity to touch, that her shorts and sleeveless tops are cut to show her flat tummy, and that her underarms are matte smooth.

I go back to my characters. I look to their most basic impulses. Then I ask myself what they might or might not really do. It doesn't leave much space for describing the wall coverings.

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

 

[ElFewja]

I found this post slightly confusing but I think you're talking about the need of/lack of detail. Regardless, I think you got it already; it depends on the character and what they're doing.

Example: a character is sitting, waiting for something to happen. You (author) don't immediately intend to jump straight into the action but you need a way to convey that time is passing. That's the time to use detail, or a time at least. Say the character is bored and decides to follow a line along a wall of bricks, or to watch as a candle flickers, to really notice how the shadows move, you know?

You actually don't need a lot of detail about random things/everything, that's more of a style if you want to go that route. I prefer to stick to things I want described and, you know what, if I just want to say something is a field, I do it. No need to describe it necessarily unless it's important.

And there's a word: importance. Relevance. Ask yourself: is this detail relevant, is it important to the story, is it important to the character, is it important to me or the audience?

I've gone back and forth between super detailed, complete minimalism and a bit of inbetweenness and I've found that I much prefer the middle ground. You get some real character growth out of showing things during down periods and by exploring details at these times while at the same time giving the impression that real time is passing, as opposed to saying five minutes/20 minutes later.

Does that commentary help? I can talk in more specifics or different areas if you'd like. I've definitely only listed one avenue where you can describe details for sure. I mean, there are a ton of reasons (a character) might notice detail, you know? It depends on that character. You really have to live it for them to understand when to do it, I guess.

 

[sophilos]

Speeding trees

Thank you. You did get the thrust of my piece -- keep it moving and don't stop. Don't stop to describe, not to explain, not to make an offering in the gutter to the gods of Vertigo.

Some description is absolutely necessary -- fold it into the action. I would cite gender and the viewpoint character's strongest impressions of the character in the focus. Those impressions become plot points as soon your viewpoint character either acts based on that impression or observes a character interaction which vindicates or vitiates that impression.

Further description serves to set the scene, perhaps to build the atmosphere. In a short story, this may not be even necessary, much less desirable. At novel length, you have room to exploit the transformation of a static descriptive detail into a dynamic, and possibly recurring, plot beat.

I like to build a story on the model of a tree. The theme (alienation, self-discovery, life v death) is the roots. These roots will filter and provide nutrients to the tree. The story will take its flavor from the roots.

The trunk is the setting in terms of genre (romance, historical fiction, thriller ...). There are some branches that the trunk will support and some events and characters that will not branch from a romantic or suspenseful base, however broad.

Description, then, is the twigs and the leaves. You could build this metaphor in Detroit and we would come to this point to talk about the paint color. It has a heck of a lot to do with the way people perceive the story and damn all to do with the mechanisms of plot and characterization and conflict.

But when perception becomes motivation ("Redheads are passionate in everything. They love to fight and they love to f ..."), then the red cars may very well be inherently faster than the blue ones.

Wanna race?