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For the last few months, I’ve been trying—and failing—to finish a certain Swedish thriller that has been camped out on the bestseller list for months. Am I the only person on the planet who can’t get through this book? 

 

I’ve started it three times. It’s not the story that turns me off. I love a good thriller and the plot delivers plenty of twists. (I know because I did see the movie, which I liked so much I picked up the book, for the third and final time.)  It’s not the characters—Blomkvist is a sympathetic protagonist and Salander has enough attitude and intriguing backstory to keep me rooting for her—as ridiculous as she is (come on, no self-respecting hacker uses an Apple!)

 

The thing that turned me off (again and again) is the writing, or really the excessively detailed writing.

 

For example, in the very beginning of the book, a side character receives a mysterious pressed flower in the mail. The author goes on for six long paragraphs giving us every detail about this flower, from its Latin name (ptospermum [Myrtaceae] rubinette), to its height (ten centimeters), to its country of origin (Australia). By the end of the book, we’ll find out there is one detail in there that matters, and the rest is just extraneous information.

 

Hey, I understand how it happens. The cardinal rule of writing is to BE SPECIFIC. Good writers look for every opportunity to add details, specifics that paint a picture of the setting and tell us something about the character’s life, values, and personality. A character shouldn’t drive a car. He should drive a Porsche (because he’s rich), or a Honda (wait, he’s practical). Or a Yugo (um, he’s . . . crazy?)  

 

But as with any creative art form—from cooking to fashion—less is more. Everyone knows that when you’re making soup, throwing in every exotic ingredient you can think of doesn’t make it better. It’s the careful selection of ingredients, in the right amounts, added in at the right time.  

 

It’s the same thing with writing. If you throw in every specific detail your character might see or hear or know, you end up with a big tangled mess. The reader doesn’t know what to focus on. They’re so overwhelmed by information, they can’t visualize the scene. And they lose interest in your story.

 

Great writers select the details that lead their readers in the direction they want them to look, to create the feelings they want readers to feel. It’s not just a matter of being as specific as possible, but rather choosing details to create a specific effect.

 

Fantasy authors are often the worst offenders of over-specificity. You need lots of details to build a convincing fantasy world. But I have read submissions that are so weighted down with unnecessary information, my pupils turned into spiral cartoons.

 

If you find yourself addicted to detail, don’t worry. You can stop the insanity, using my simple three-step program:

Read the rest!