“If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it’s not going to be fired, it shouldn’t be hanging there.”
-Anton Chekhov
Every writer knows they need details. They’re what flesh out the story and make the reader feel like they’re really there with the characters. But what every writer does not know is WHAT details they need. I start with this quote from Chekhov because it perfectly encapsulates my views on details.
Here’s an example of the sort of thing that I often notice writers doing:
“She pulled into her driveway and opened the car door. Her house was grey and weathered, but at least her front porch railing looked better since the landlord had repainted it. The wind came around the corner of the house and lifted up her flowing, flowery shirt. Her shoes crunched the rocks on the path.”
Here are the details from just that paragraph:
-the house was grey
-the house was weathered
-she has a landlord
-her front porch railing was newly painted
-she has a flowing, flowery shirt
-her shoes crunch on the path
The first thing to notice is HOW MANY details that is, just to narrate a character coming home. But in order to go deeper, let’s focus on each of these even further. In the grander scheme of the book, how could each of these things matter? Of course we have only a paragraph here, but we can guess in what sort of a book these details might make a difference. We can imagine that if an assassin has just been dispatched to find and kill this girl, and her house is the only grey one on the street, then that detail might actually be really important later.
What does the story have to include in order for it to be important that the house be weathered? Maybe it’s the first indication that this story is set by the sea, or maybe it’s a hint that this house was owned by someone who had no money to repair it, and who therefore, later in the story, might need to kick the girl out because they have decided to sell.
Now we come to the introduction of a new character: the landlord, who has repainted the front railing but hasn’t done anything else to the rest of the house. Is this landlord important? Is this the first introduction necessary to set the scene so the next morning when the girl wakes up she sees the landlord on a ladder by the bathroom window repainting the window trim?
Now the clothes. Is the assassin going to identify her by them later? Has she just come from a date where she struggled with self-confidence because she really feels like she should hit the gym more? Does she always dress extra feminine because in fifth grade her Dad told her that she should “really try a little harder to be pretty”? And if he did say this, then her shirt should maybe be an indicator of her character growth in the novel as she tries to overcome her dad’s voice in her head.
Finally, the stones crunching. Why is this important? Is there someone in the house who now knows she’s coming? Or does the crunching sound make it difficult for her to concentrate on the difficult work issue she brought home and needs to fix?
I think you get the picture. When you include details in your story, there should ALWAYS be a reason. They should establish a necessary backstory, foreshadow a plot twist, or share an important detail that will show the character’s motivations as the novel moves along.
So watch your details! And use them to push the plot forward. Don’t clutter your reader’s heads with details that they don’t need to remember, because this will degrade the trust they have in you. When something needs to be said, say it. And when it’s not important, save your reader’s memory for the things you REALLY want them to remember.