When we hear the phrase “it’s in the details” a common response might be ask it what exactly is “it”?

The answer is that “it” refers to the vibrance of lived experience that makes readers feel as if they’re a part what they’re reading about. Creating vicarious experiences for your reader requires a certain level of creative control over the details that you use –when to use them, how to use them, and when not to use them are all essential writing skills we learn over time, practice, and study.

As a writing coach, I’m often asked, “how do you know when you have the right balance of details?” Knowing when you have that balance is the first step of gaining creative control of you use of details. the video below gives a short overview of balancing details and looks at the specific qualities that allow details to work to their fullest potential:

Re-seeing What We Wrote

Did you happen to notice the detail of the missing “you” in this video? I did when I re-watched it a second time. And since the best mistakes are those we can learn form, allow me to discuss how this mistake relates to the power of reviewing what we’ve written. It’s essential to re-see our own writing not only when we reread to revise and edit, but also to try and see the details we’ve used in the eyes of someone who doesn’t know our poem, picture book, story, or non-fiction tale. We often think we’ve used enough details because we can see what we’re describing. What we need to remember is that we have the benefit of prior knowledge when we read what we wrote. Readers and editors have no context but the words we’re sharing, so they need to stand alone and create the vicarious experience we’re trying to invoke.

For instance, if I were to say that “the kid got stuck in the ladder” in a story for young children, most kids wouldn’t have any idea what I meant because they’re unfamiliar with the old-fashioned term for pantry. When we use details, we need to make sure they translate to our intended audience and provide enough clues to see what we’re showing them.

We could say he went to his room, or lean-to woodshed at the back of the house as John does in my novel Worth. By using both lean-to and woodshed I double my chances of giving readers an image to show that this newly adopted orphan from the orphan train, is clearly not living as a full-fledged member of the family. Details work best when they show us more than one thing at a time (see more about double duty details below).

Trust Your Reader

Sometimes we trust our reader too much, thinking they’ll know what we mean when we use a specific detail or leave other details out, but the truth is, it’s the specifics that convince readers that what is being described is “real” in a creative and experiential way. If we say, “A dog sat on the edge of the park” we can see that dog, but how do things change when it’s “A wiry dog perched on the curb, eyes fixed on the apartment building door.” Suddenly this dog is not only a specific dog, but he has a story to tell. This pup is waiting. Who or what is he waiting for? Because he’s perched, we have a stronger sense of tension and anticipation, don’t we?

On the other hand, there’s such a thing as not trusting your reader enough. This is often true when it comes to emotions. When conveying emotion, writers often try to lead readers to feel through the use of loaded language. Saying someone “sobbed uncontrollably, their heart breaking into tiny blow-away pieces” does describe the emotion, but it’s too abstract and exaggerated. What happens if we say that “Serna curled into his jersey, crying until she found it hard to draw his scent form the shirt. Startled she sat up, blinking into the sunlight and rushed to his room to find a fresh shirt.” How do the specific actions of this character change the story of her grief? What more do we know about what she’s feeling through her actions and reactions? We learn so much more when we trust our reader and use specific, concrete details that show how a character feels.

Make Sure Your Details are Doing their Duty

A character could have a backpack or a pack covered iron-on patches she’s stolen from every family the system had forced her live with. Here the patches are like foster kid merit badges in a twisted kind of way. Feeling that something has been taken from her, she steals from those she’s been placed with. With a few double duty details we go from an object –a backpack to an endowed object-something within a story that has meaning given to it by the experiences of the characters or by virtue of its symbolic importance.

So, when we say “it’s in the details” we mean the “stuff of life” that comes to life through specific details we use. May the suggestions I’ve offered help you bring out all vicarious vibrance in your writing.

I like to offer writing advice in Tight Write Bites and you can see more of them on my Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0rs916zLi2y7tMAKb2aDeQ or you can join my creative community Sylvanocity on FB, Twitter or Instagram @sylvanocity. I coined the term “sylvanocity” to refer to our human capacity to use creativity to make the world a better place.

If you have any questions, please do send them my way at a@alafaye.com