Joined: 07 Sep 2007 Posts: 523 Location: Upstate New York
Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 1:29 pm
Well, I obviously have a different opinion regarding description than a lot of other writers, but I feel it's enough when the scene I'm trying to set is clear in the reader's mind. How much description is appropriate truly depends upon the situation.
Using my poetry as an example - there are times I want a specific image, and I use enough description to form that specific image. At other times, it's more effective to leave some up to the reader's imagination. For instance, instead of describing the details about the monstrous things that get the narrator at the end of "The Accursed Castle", I merely call them "infernal creatures". I let the reader fill in the details. In "The Unseelie Court" I use the line "A whirring stir like starlings on the wing" to give a pretty specific description of the sound of the Unseelie Court flying through the air.
If it's something that the reader can't clearly form an image of, even if it's an image from their own imagination, then you might not have used enough description. If the description goes on and on, and the reader can form a good image with less, then perhaps you've used too much.
That's my opinion on the subject, anyway. _________________ "I'm going to do what the warriors of old did. I'm going to recite poetry!"
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