I received criticism for telling and not showing in one of my recent stories. I did ask a question on here about it a couple of months ago and received some great and useful replies from the community.
I am now in the process of editing my story but now I feel as though I am showing to much? Is it possible to show to much in a story? I don't really know where to draw the line. There is a part in my story where my character sees the new home she is living in and so I have gone on to describe what the cottage looks like, smells like etc. Which I think is ok but another example would be when my characters are sitting down at a kitchen table and having a discussion, do I need to describe the table? The kitchen? etc..
I just think that it sounds silly if it is described to much. Help please?
Hmmm... A tough question! I would say that you should go by your heart! You have to be the reader! Most probably, you are an avid reader. So, you would know how books should be. If you feel that the extensive description is necessary, then go for it. Describe from top to bottom, but keep in mind that irrelevant things should sneak in!
For example : If you are describing a girl sitting at the table, you can describe the table, the cups, the tea pot and the cloth, but adding in about the wall and the floor makes it bit irrelevant!
But personally, I love to read vivid descriptions from anything to everything!
Good luck! :)
Thank you, very useful points, I have taken your answers on board. :)
Well, Adrian and John's advice is neat, but I would like to add to that. How much to describe or what to describe, I used to have the same problem, a long time ago. But, I think the only solution to this is- Visualizing.
Visualize the scenes in your book, see it in your head, sort of like a whenever-you-want-to-watch-or-pause movie. And after you have a clear picture of the scene, and everything in it, get to writing.
Here's how to do it, write what you think the scene's surrounding is like- example a black wardrobe in a dark room.
"In the corner stood a pitch black wardrobe, blending in with its surroundings. Looming high above everything in the vicinity, and covered in dust and cobwebs, it lay untouched by man, by tainted by the effects of time and nature."
Just an acute description that you think it deserves, no need to write histories about it.
And now, the important part- Read through your story, be the reader. While reading, try ignoring and sort of suppressing everything you know about the scene, and from what you read, try to picture it and visualize it, when you get a clear picture, it means you've got the right balance of description,
Well, good luck :)