If at a critique someone mentioned that your writing needs more "detail", what does it mean?

Answer 1

More details means that you made a point, but you need to say more about it. For instance, if I write - "Today was a sad day." This sentence alone fails to explain why the day was sad. But, if I said: "Today was a sad day. My dog died and I lost my apartment because I didn't pay rent." This would be more a more detailled description.

Answer 2

It means you need to flesh your characters or situations out more so that they come across as real, as more "3D" than flat. A character may have a quirky little habit, a place needs detail to make the reader "see it, like a painting. But don't go depicting characters, scenes and dialogue in a predictable way, like painting by numbers, let them be painted in a subtle way, an almost unpredictable way, and be consistent. The kind of hat someone wears can give the reader an idea about his character, even. Look around your place, see what stands out that would give people a clue about your own character. If someone's "ugly"
don't just write that, come up with a really original description that will make people puke. Details are what puts the reader right in there - the way someone stands, how they speak, how they smell, why does the street look lonely? All this can be conveyed by an astute detail.

Answer 3

Here comes a response from an English teacher.
When reading a student's fiction, I like to see some "dressing up" of language. If the the writing mentions an old car, fly with the details: sounds it made, how it looked, what it felt like to drive or ride in, what the interior smelled like...
Non-fiction can call for even more detail. In a biography, for example, you might mention the year of someone's birth. Cite other events locally, nationally, globally that may have occurred then, to give the subject's entrance into this world some sense of perspective. Talk about the birth place, the city. Look for some important factual items: was the person's birth town significant for some social, economic, artistic reasons? Describe the subjects social milieu, what kind of growing up experiences s/he endured.
Detail keeps the reader interested, so parse your thoughts to determine what will captivate your reader and be sure you understand who your reader is, as in, the audience of your work.
If length is an issue - you have maximum words or space - then you have to work to make the language of your details much more efficient. If there's a minimum word count or space, then be cautious about "fluff", filler, detail that is irrelevant or obviously there to pad your opus.

Answer 4

That is a pretty bland critique. This person's critique requires "more detail." Nevertheless I'll take a stab at it by example. "Sherrie's eyes hurt." More detail, "Sherrie rubbed her emerald eyes."

However, don't make the mistake that many novice writers make by including too much detail, by trying to "tell" the reader every little thing. "Show" through action, dialogue, don't "tell." Leave something for the reader's imagination (internal TV set) to do.

Answer 5

If you are wriitng fiction, you need to show more than tell and really get into the character's surroundings and feelings.

This is telling: Jane came into the room and sat down at her desk. The teacher looked irritated.

This is showing: God, she was late and Mrs. Harris would have a fit if she saw her coming in now She peeked around the door and Mrs. Harris with her back turned as she wrote on the board. Quickly, quietly as a mouse, she slipped in and took her seat.

Brad was grinning at her subterfuge. She glared at him, but it was Cindy who gave it away with a little snicker. Mrs. Harris turned quick as a cat to spy her taking out her books.

"Jane, you will stay after class," she said in a tone that brooked no argument.


You see how that works? Showing a story is much more difficult than telling it, but it brings the reader into it. The above passage was written in Third Person Limited.

Answer 6

It could mean a few things. Here are a couple suggestions...
Use more challenging words to describe things in your writing. For example: We travelled down the road.
change to: We travelled slowly down the winding road.
This paints a better picture for the reader and is more interesting to read.

Or to simply describe events or things more clearly with distinct examples and ideas to back up or create a picture of what you are writing about.

Answer 7

Probably it means that you haven't explained enough about what the emotions are like, where they are, and things like that. I have a really hard time with this, I can never seem to write enough detail that reads smoothly. It's always choppy.

I find it helpful to assign myself to describe a certain element in the story or whatever, and after that it sounds better.

Hope this helps! :)

Answer 8

That depends on what you are trying to write.

Fiction and narrative require a different sort of detail than an essay exploring the exegetical and ecclesiastical import of the realized eschatology in Johannine literature. You know?

Answer 9

your not explaining things in detail. for example. She waltzed into the room and sat down vs. She waltzed into the room with notoriety as she sashayed to the ever waiting chair that would protect her from her desire to frolic eagerly amongst the other guests. (my description is a little long winded but then that is my problem)

Answer 10

Don't just draw an outline. Include the shading and the color. Paint a full picture giving not only the subject and the background and setting.