How specific should descriptions of settings/appearances be?

Some people tell me there are not enough descriptions in my book, some say there are too much. How do you know how much detail is enough?

Is there like a rule of thumb for these things?

Do I leave most of it to the reader's imagination, or do I need to be much more specific?

Answer

Maybe what both audiences are telling you is that your descriptions are unsatisfying. That would explain why there is both "too much," and also "not enough." (What do you tell people who ask you if you're getting enough to eat, when the food is terrible?) Personally, I know that the descriptions are the weakest part of my own writing. Here are some things I've done that have helped improve them:

1. 
   

   Spend more time observing things visually. We write best the things we love and the things we pay attention to, which is why I'm great with dialog and terrible with descriptions. If you spend some quality time intensely and closely observing scenes and settings in real life, it will help your written descriptions become more vivid and less generic.

   
   


2. 
   

   Remember that your descriptions can (and should!) do a lot of extra work. They shouldn't just be things you throw in to keep people appeased. The sky looks a lot different when you're depressed than when you're happy, so make sure your descriptions convey hints at your characters' mental and emotional states. The knife lying on the table isn't just background scenery, it's the future murder weapon --there's a lot of clues and foreshadowing, subtle and blatant you can hide in the descriptions. Finally, there's a story behind that stain on the wallpaper --go ahead and tell it.

   
   

I suspect if you improve your descriptions, both your audiences will suddenly start finding there is exactly the right amount of them in your book.