112. How do I know if I’ve added too many details to my novel? (Q&A)

“How do you tell if there are too many details? It all comes down to the reader experience. What is the reader experience that you want your readers to have?”


In this episode of How To Write The Future podcast, host Beth Barany answers a question from a historical romance writer about how to strike the right balance of detail in your novel and how picking one of the five senses can help characterize and captivate your reader's experience without overwhelming them. Beth also shares her “World Building Workbook for Fiction Writers” to aid in developing compelling story worlds.


ABOUT THE HOW TO WRITE THE FUTURE PODCAST

The How To Write The Future podcast is for science fiction and fantasy writers who want to write positive futures and successfully bring those stories out into the marketplace. Hosted by Beth Barany, science fiction novelist and creativity coach for writers. We cover tips for fiction writers and get curious about the future of humanity.


ABOUT BETH BARANY

Beth Barany, an award-winning fantasy and science fiction novelist, teaches novelists how to write, edit, and publish their books as a coach, teacher, consultant, and developmental editor.

RESOURCES

GET HELP WITH YOUR WORLD BUILDING - START HERE

Free World Building Workbook for Fiction Writers: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/world-building-resources/

Sign up for the 30-minute Story Success Clinic with Beth Barany: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/story-success-clinic/

Get support for your fiction writing by a novelist and writing teacher and coach. Schedule an exploratory call here and see if Beth can support you today: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/discovery-call/

• SHOW PRODUCTION BY Beth Barany
• SHOW CO-PRODUCTION + NOTES by Kerry-Ann McDade

c. 2024 BETH BARANY

https://bethbarany.com/

--
CONNECT
Contact Beth: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/podcast/#tve-jump-185b4422580
Email: beth@bethbarany.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethbarany/

CREDITS
EDITED WITH DESCRIPT: https://get.descript.com/0clwwvlf6e3j
MUSIC: Uppbeat.io
DISTRIBUTED BY BUZZSPROUT: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1994465

Transcript

Transcript for Ep. 112

BETH BARANY: Hey, everyone. Beth Barany here for How To Write The Future podcast. I'm your host. I'm also a creativity coach for writers, a book coach and teacher, a speaker. Obviously a podcaster. And I'm also a science fiction and fantasy novelist. 

I run this podcast to share with you tips and tools to strengthen your writing. And also I run this podcast because I believe in positive, optimistic futures. I believe that our fiction is a powerful tool. And we can remake the world with our stories. 

In fact, that is the power of stories and we're all doing it all the time in the stories we tell each other. And in the media we watch. All of it. 

So you're here because you're a writer or you care about the future. So I dive deep into tips for writers and help you build worlds that are compelling, enchanting, and take the reader away. 

All right. 

[01:06] A Q&A session 

BETH BARANY: So I am doing a short series of a Q and A, question and answer. 

And I have a question today for you from Tally. S.

So Tally writes historical romance and she asked me. 

"I wonder if I write in too much detail."

Perhaps as a writer, you've had this problem too, where you wonder how much detail is too much detail. 

And I see this all the time. Us writers, we struggle with this all the time. 

I asked her to tell me a little bit more. And she said that she was told by a couple of people that sometimes she describes a bit too much and she's trying to stay true to the language of the time. She's writing an historical romance set in 1822. And she still wants to maintain a feel that wouldn't be too heavy for the contemporary reader. 

[01:59] Getting Feedback

BETH BARANY: She's taking in the feedback, which is great. 

So hats off to you. Hats off to you Tally for getting feedback. That's a very important part of the writing process. 

[02:09] The solution to the feedback: too many details

BETH BARANY: She says she is learning as she goes, but she would appreciate any tips that I may have for how to sense if I do include too many details. 

Thank you again, Tally, for your question. 

This is a common problem. So please don't feel alone. I've had this problem in my writing and I've seen lots of other manuscripts that have this problem.

How do you tell if there are too many details?

It all comes down to the reader experience. 

What is the reader experience that you want your readers to have? 

When I say reader's experience, I say, what is the experience that you want your readers to have while they are reading your book. And also while they get to The End. 

An interesting thing about language is we can use it to shape an emotional experience in the listener or the reader. 

We are actually entrancing our readers. We are putting them into a trance. 

So the question is what kind of trance do you want to put them in? 

We want them to stay in the story for as long as possible and not put the book down. We are writing page turning books, we're writing stories we want people to just fall in love with. And also forget their daily life for a little bit. That is the beauty of stories. We get to set our world aside our normal mundane world, and we get to dive into story. 

So our job as the writer is to create a trance experience. But let's get more specific. And I would ask you:

[03:33] What is the actual emotional experience that you would like your reader to have?

BETH BARANY: What is the actual emotional experience that you would like your reader to have? 

And it can be really nice to characterize that using the senses. And I would say pick one of the senses that stands out for you the most. Either sight or smell or taste or sound or feeling. 

I like to use sound. So I would encourage you to pick a sound. Or a song or a kind of song that your book most easily resembles. 

And this is a choice. 

So I'm going to just pick something that is classical in nature, just because it's not exactly appropriate to 1822. Or maybe it is, I don't know. 

Let's pick, let's pick Chopin. Something melodic, something sweet, something light with a little bit of drama. Now I have an imagination about what that music would sound like and how it would carry us from the beginning to the end. This is the experience you want to give your reader. 

And now, when you know your criteria, when you know the sensory experience you want your readers to have, now you can discern whether or not you have the right details.

Right here comes the cat. 

BETH BARANY: So I hope that answered your question, Tally. 

Use the music of your book to help you choose what details to leave in and what details to cut. 

[04:51] Tell your cats

BETH BARANY: That's it for this week, everyone. Thank you so much for listening. 

Please like, subscribe, leave a review where you heard this podcast. That helps so so much. 

Please tell your friends and your cats. Tell your cats. 

[05:04] get the world-building workbook for fiction writers

BETH BARANY: Just a reminder. you can get in direct exchange with me and spark a conversation around world building for your books, for your novel. If you want. to do that, you can get the World Building Workbook for Fiction Writers and you get that uh, using the link in the description for the podcast. Or just go over to how to write the future.com and you'll see how to sign up for your very own-- what's it called? World Building Workbook for Fiction Writers. All right. 

That's it for this week.

Write long and prosper.