I discussed a book with a friend, and he disliked that the author described a person who is dying shortly after and has no further effect on the story over a page or more. The same would go for things; if I describe a room, should I include things that have no importance for the story?
How many of these story-irrelevant descriptions are too much? Would they annoy the reader? And if I completely avoid this, would the story have to less 'flesh'?
Answer
Your friend is right. Don't describe things that aren't important for the story. However, keep in mind that things can be important for a variety of different reasons. You may want to describe to establish:
- Setting. This is obvious, and it's what most people think of.
- Character: Peter's apartment was full of empty pizza boxes crusted with dried cheese. Neither the boxes nor the cheese are important to the story per se, but this detail tells us that Peter is a slob.
- Mood: Think of the opening chapter of Dracula, where Bram Stoker describes the approach to the Count's castle. Most of the things described are not important in themselves, but they establish the mood of mystery and menace.
- Theme: In a war story, you might not need to describe the bullet-riddled body your protag finds in the field. On the other hand, doing that might be crucial to illustrating that War Is Hell.
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