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 |  This is a continuation of my blogging here at WdC |
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This will be a blog for my writing, maybe with (too much) personal thrown in. I am hoping it will be a little more interactive, with me answering questions, helping out and whatnot. If it falls this year (2024), then I may stop the whole blogging thing, but that's all a "wait and see" scenario. An index of topics can be found here: "Writing Blog No.2 Index"  Feel free to comment and interact. |
| Balance of too much and not enough Question from a regular blog reader (yes, I do so have regular readers!): I tend to write short. I like writing short stuff. But I'm in this writing class and they want a lot of what they seem to think of as details, but what seems to me to be endless descriptions. And a story I'd normally have at 1,000 – 2,000 words, they want made into 7,000 – 8,000 words. They say that's what readers want, and especially to be sure to use all the senses in every single scene. I think they even gave a rule of thumb to make sure you do all five senses every five hundred words, at a minimum. I do think it's important to use all the senses, but every five hundred words seems excessive… How do you determine the balance between enough detail to bring a reader into your scene and not too much to bore them? What a great question! First, I don’t know these people, but that sort of dictum seems to be very gatekeeper-ish of them. And saying “it’s what readers want” is patently false. I am a reader and it is certainly not what I want. The sweet spot for selling short stories is 3k-6k words, with 4k-5k generally a good length, though more and more publications have a 3k word maximum. 7k-8k is proving a hard sell in today’s markets. Next, the using of all five senses in every single scene. Do I be nitpicky and say there are actually anywhere from 8 to 20 senses, depending on who you listen to or read? Okay, I am a horror writer, and in horror writing you want to use all five of the main senses plus balance and time (so, 7 senses), but not all the time. It over-describes and takes away from the feel of horror. It can destroy the pacing. I have mentioned before that I am not a fan of rules in writing, especially something as prescriptive as “all five senses every five hundred words.” I have no issue with using the five-plus senses, but that much? The pace of the tale would be so slow. And there would be a lot of repetition. Does taste change that much? Smell? And, truth be told, I have never heard this “rule of thumb.” Finally, how do I determine the balance between too much and too little? I can’t say. It is just how it feels. Reading back, if it feels like I have not painted enough of a picture, then I need to add more. If I feel like I (the writer) want to skip bits, then I’ve put in too much. But the best way to work out if it works or not is simple: I trust my beta readers. I cannot stress how important they are for a writer, and this is just another example of that. So, thanks for the question, and I think this sort of writer gatekeeping is something that does no-one any service. In. My. Opinion. |
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