Detail selection is one of the most important (and difficult) writing skills. It affects not just the content of a piece of writing, but the style. Thus, when an editor flags or corrects detail selection, you may think your style is being tampered with. This can make you feel anxious or angry, which is understandable!
I’d like to explain some of the ways that detail selection affects writing style, meaning that errors in detail selection will cause style errors. While correcting these can be painful, it’s important to recognize that no amount of style will cover up bad detail selection—whereas good detail selection will automatically improve your style.
Clarity
First and foremost, writing is about clear communication. We want readers to understand what we’re saying without much struggle. Poor detail selection hinders this. A piece that leaves the reader with a vague grasp of its meaning, but no firm understanding, lacks the clarity of good style.
Appropriateness to the type of composition
Different types of composition require different kinds of details. A news report on the incidence of domestic violence in a city might include definitions and statistics. A short story about a woman being abused by her boyfriend might not even use the term violence. Details inappropriate to the type of composition always result in poor style.
Composition length
Amount of detail affects composition length; on the flip side, various writing formats have expected lengths, which constrains detail selection. “Duh!” you say. “That’s not rocket science!”
But it does bear further thought. Consider your favorite long-winded writer. (It’s probably a novelist, since the novel form is fairly forgiving when it comes to length.) Though J. R. R. Tolkein and Patrick Rothfuss would work equally well, I’ll use Charles Dickens as an example. His explosions of detail are one of the most entertaining, delightful, and infuriating aspects of his style. A Dickens novel is usually longer than it needs to be, but that isn’t necessarily a problem: we may enjoy every side plot, extraneous character, and wordy sentence. But even as a Dickens devotee, I confess to having quit Nicholas Nickleby and Bleak House partway through and never picked them up again. I wonder which of his novels have been abandoned by more readers than not when his inimitable style became boorish?
It is never wise for an author to expect their audience to forgive an overlong piece of writing. It’s your responsibility to make your writing as accessible and enjoyable for your readers as possible. That means not trespassing on their attention spans with too much detail, and only doing so when you are certain you can keep them hanging on every word.
Composition pacing
This concept is more difficult to grasp. Instead of thinking about the length of a composition, consider how rapidly it will be read. Are you explaining a complicated tax law to accountants, expecting them to read carefully to grasp every step of your explanation? Are you detailing a funny comment that your adorable child made while watching you flip pancakes, one that will make your readers laugh (but only if you don’t burden them with a lengthy setup)? Every detail you choose to tell, and the words you tell it with, will slow or accelerate the composition’s pace. And it’s important that the pace be appropriate. Certain pieces should be read slowly and others shouldn’t.
I tried to read a Stephen King novel once. I found the reading difficult going and gave up after a few chapters. Aside from being filled with terror (there’s a reason why King is famous!), I struggled with the style, which was choked with detail. I felt caught between the need to read slowly so I could accurately picture the scenes and characters and to read quickly due to the plot’s intensity. It was like being a slow eater at a hot-dog-eating contest—I couldn’t win.
This problem is especially prevalent in the beginnings of novels, where authors try, sometimes inelegantly, to pack in all the required starting information. Who knows—maybe that’s what was going on with King, and I should have read just a few more chapters?
Word choice and pacing
Detail selection affects style at the sentence level too. The number and type of details you include affect the number and type of words and sentences required to communicate them, and vice versa.
Suppose someone is writing a short story about a piano tuner’s relationship with his father. The father likes to make his son feel stupid and inept. The author needs to portray the tuner’s intelligence and dexterity, of which he is poignantly unaware because his entire sense of self is defined by his father’s insults. The son is tuning the grand piano of an old lady who swears she won’t let any other technician touch the instrument. Should the author use a lot of specialized terminology to describe the tuning process? Should they describe every step of tuning? Should they mention the decisions involved in correcting a particular note that easily slips out of tune because the tuning pin is loose? How much detail is needed to help readers envision the story and grasp the tuner’s character without overwhelming and confusing them?
Below are just two possible ways that an author could write the scene. Neither is right or wrong; much would depend on the context. But notice how the choice of detail affects the style.
Example One
After setting the temperament, he begins tuning the upper and lower octaves, setting the pins with delicate twists of the tuning lever. Each wire twangs as he adjusts its tension to the correct pitch. He moves up and down in the treble and bass, harmonizing each key to the one an octave above or below, tightening or loosening every single unison string, stretching the octaves with an unerring ear.
Example Two
The piano wires twang as he adjusts their tension, delicately twisting the pins with his tuning wrench. Every note is tuned by ear, his stubby fingers testing out the keys in various intervals to be sure they harmonize. When he’s done, he plays some jazz—the sound is clean and crisp. Mrs. O’Leary stands in the doorway, nodding along.
For more pointers on this topic, read my blog post “The Art of Detail Selection.”
Banner photo by Denny Müller on Unsplash