Useless Descriptions - Take out the clutter in your novel!

Originally Posted on Xomba. Click here to see it. 

When writing a novel, it is often the case for many people to quarrel with themselves over what types of scenes they should put in their book. It is an author's pleasure to illustrate every single detail about their flawless story in hopes that the reader would catch the plot's charm. They wish to describe everything, from the cracks on the walls, to the hue of a random leaf, to the crease-lines on a character's eyes. They want to capture the audience's attention, bring them into their mind, and overwhelm them with the spectacularity that is their world.

Does it work? To put it blunty, No.

Many authors struggle with the aspect of Useless vs. Essential Illustrations - determining whether or not a scene or passage is essential to the story. No reader wants extra fluff they have to read through.

For example, I can literally talk about a guy named John sitting by his desk thinking about how to propose to his girlfriend. I can talk about the cups on the table, and the dull creases on the wall, the pile of books on the corner, and how he has them but never reads them. I can talk about the dustiness on the desk, the hues of the rather grey room. I can talk about feelings, his appearance, his life. I can literally spend twenty pages telling the audience all this, and after I'm done, I have not progressed even one second in his world. John is still sitting at the desk thinking about his girlfriend, and he still has a problem. 

You are not happy, John is not happy, and the audience is not happy. No one likes fluff. Get rid of it.

Fortunately, there's a way for you to determine whether or not a passage is truly essential to your story. Just answer the following questions for that specific passage, and answer them TRUTHFULLY.

1. What does this passage offer to the plot's storyline?
2. Is the scene progressing?
3. Is this progressive dialogue, or casual dialogue?

1. What does this passage offer to the plot's storyline?

If it's obvious that your passage doesn't affect the plot at all, alter it and answer the question again, or get rid of it. If you are not sure if the description of some scenes are necessary, ask yourself: is it essential for that leaf to be described? Is it vital that I give a paragraph on my character's deformed fingernail? Is it important to know that my character ate lasagna the night before the big fight? Will any of this hold an importance later on in the story? If not, get rid of it.

2. Is the scene progressing?

If you find yourself page after page describing nature and it holds no importance (see Question 1), then delete the fluff. Have you ever read a story and felt the need to skip over some paragraph descriptions because you want to get right into the action? Those paragraph descriptions are what you want to get rid of.

3. Is this progressive dialogue, or casual dialogue?

If your scene has dialogue, ask yourself if the stuff between the quotes are absolutely necessary for the story. No one wants a scene like this:

"Hey Bob. How are you?"

"I'm good. What about you?"

"Swell. It's a nice day isn't it?"

"Yeah. Oh hey, did you hear about the murder down the street? I heard Mrs. Cane was accused!"

The audience does not read a story just so they can get bombarded with dialogue similar to the ones they have every day. Make sure each dialogue is essential to the story. Remember: When a character talks, He/she is either gaining information that will change the course of the story, giving information that will change the course of the story, or talking about something that will change the course of the story. There is no casual talk in a proper story. 

Now, there is a difference between the above dialogue and saying: 

Bob saw John, and greeted him.

"Did you hear about the murder down the street? I heard Mrs. Cane was accused!" John suddenly blurted.

Now that is something the audience wants to hear about.

Remember when writing a story to put yourself in the audience's shoes. Would the audience be interested in what you're talking about, and is it truly necessary for the story? By making these decisions accurately and thoughtfully, you'll be one step closer to publishing that novel, and one step away from having to delete hours of work because of its uselessness.

May your joy in writing lead you to happiness,

Jay