Is Your Story Drowning in Details?

Every story needs details—it’s what helps bring it to life for the reader. Details set stories apart from one another and enable the writer to introduce seemingly insignificant nuggets that may play a major role as the story progresses. The challenge for the writer is to find the acceptable ratio of details to plot without drowning the reader in details. Let’s examine a few pitfalls and see what we can learn from them.

Example: A historical fiction novel features a character who is apprenticing under a gunsmith. War is coming, and the militia must be supplied with arms. The reader should know what kind of gun is being made in that time period and how the soldiers will use them because it may have a significant impact on the outcome of the battle/war. Telling the reader that it’s a musket speaks volumes in just one word. Along with the type of gun, the writer should probably provide information about how long it will take a soldier to reload and what ammunition they need. This may be important when it’s time to write the battle scene, for instance. What they probably don’t need is the type of metal used to make the barrel, the size of the opening, how the gun is constructed, or where the wood for the stock of the gun comes from. The writer needs to sift through the research and incorporate only those details that are vital to the story and keep it moving forward.

Example: You’re writing a story that includes several generations and timelines. Timelines can be tricky. How much of a historical timeline needs to be provided to the reader? Is everything you’re including relevant to the story? Is there a character three generations removed that plays a significant role? If so, then that character needs to be included and a bit of detail of the time period he/she comes from needs to be provided. Characters from those generations who have no role to play will only confuse and frustrate the reader. Leave them (drinking and hunting buddies, for example) out.

Example: Character overload. Introducing too many characters at once can leave a reader’s head spinning. Who’s important and who isn’t? How am I supposed to remember all of these names? Do I need a family tree? If your story needs one, create and place it at the beginning of your story for readers to refer to. If not, ask yourself why you are introducing all of these characters here, now, all at once. A quick mention at a relevant part of a scene may be all that’s needed. If they’re merely providing historical context, that may be all that’s needed. Instead of introducing numerous characters seated around a dining table, consider placing them in different rooms, at different times and give them a memorable role to play in the story. If there’s no place for them, send them on their way (i.e. leave them in your research notes).

Overloading the reader with details runs the risk of your story veering off the rails in several ways. First, it pulls the reader out of the story and immerses them in minute details that have no role to play in the overall story. Second, the story begins to feel like an information dump. Again, it pulls the reader out of the story and they may struggle with trying to figure out what details should be remembered and what can be left behind. The reader is now sifting through the details, which is the writer’s job. Lastly, too much information in one place can make a story of fiction fall into the realm of non-fiction. What started out as a historical fiction story now feels like a chapter in a history textbook.

Do your required research, then do some more. That doesn’t mean all of it needs, or should, end up in your story. As the writer, you need to decide which bits are vital and which can be left behind. Inserting details into strategic parts of the story where the reader needs them will give them more impact, and the reader will remember how important they are.