Tons of detail: love it or hate it?

I like my details to be nitty gritty, but only in small chunks. For example, I couldn't read two pages of nothing but details and then see action. I'd like to see a few paragraphs of detail, action and some dialogue, maybe some more detail, and sort of "space it out." But it also needs to flow, if that makes sense. Like, don't go from describing something, then randomly go to a piece of action. I like it smooth and flowing. :)

If you find anything I say in the above comment offensive and/or serious, do us all a favor and make the world a better place by getting a sense of humor and/or jumping off a cliff.

I only use detail when it is necessary; there are sometimes when you just need to say that it is a fireplace and not a fireplace made of red and brown bricks with mortar that was once white but was now mostly gray with some black areas because of soot. You don't need to say that there are twelve logs in there but only three are burning.

If you want to use that description of a fireplace in your own story go ahead; I just call it a fireplace.

I wouldn't say I love it, but I certainly tend to write a lot of details. The whole concept of NaNo doesn't help me with this sickness either since I'm desperate to put any words down at all. I'm a very visual person. If I could just paste pictures of scenes into my writing then I would do that, but since I can't my descriptions tend to go on and on and on while my characters just sit there patiently waiting to get to take some part in the story again.

[Redundant Widget Removed]

~Chris

I think it depends for me.

When I'm reading I can only take it in small doses. I think that's why I could never deal with Stephen King. I always feel like he goes into SO much detail and it leaves me bored.

However, if it's important to the story then I'm all for it. Obviously you need SOME detail in order to make the story you're telling work. You just don't need to go on for three pages about what color a door is ;-)

~ 2008 "Soap" (NaNo 50,347 words)

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I used to like stories with a lot of flowery purple prose (ie details bleeding out my ears), when I was a teenager I used to read loads of giant 200 - 300 page books teaming with oodles of details, but as I've gotten older (and am now nearing 40) I seem to have changed my preferred reading style. Today, I rarely read a book over 175 pages long (Harry Potter and Stephen King novels being the only exceptions to this rule), and I tend to enjoy books best if they are extremely character driven - in other words, heavy on the dialog to the point of being nearly straight dialog and almost no narratives at all. In other words, I now seem to read mostly shorter fast paced reads with almost no details at all. Weird, how my reading style changed over the years like that. I think maybe, as a teenager I had more time to read than I do today, and that may have a lot to do with it.

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I generally dislike writing detail, and have to add some to my paragraphs to make them more full. I tend to accidentally leave out the visual stimuli of a scene because I'm so focused on what the character is thinking and how they are reacting to the situation. When I'm reading I don't mind detail, but I like straight-forward books better.

Times overwhelmed by how much more I need to write: 11 (This includes an out-loud response, usually "aaaahhhhhhh")

For me it's not about the amount of detail, but the right detail. During NaNoWriMo that means dashing out whatever descriptions, etc. I can think of, trusting that I'll edit out the junk in December.
When I'm first reading a book I tend to like just enough detail to help me visualize what's going on, but the second time through, the descriptions give the story more resonance, so I appreciate them more.

I love writing detail. During nano, that ends up being a huge part of my wordcount, and I end up having to cut a ton!

Well, myself, I write with a ridiculous amount of detail. I can't help it really.
But, when I'm reading, I usually like little chunks of detail, with good metaphors.

I absolutely adore details. I could read them without end, which is probably why I enjoyed 'Great Expectations' so much. Purple prose, however, is too much. I'd rather the details contribute in some way to the story.

I'm not really a fan of detail in large chunks. I like just enough to get an idea of what is going on, but I am not a very visual person, so a lot of detail just goes over my head. I look much more for interesting and believable dialog as well as characters that I can get emotionally attached to. This makes it difficult for me during NaNo because detail is such a good way to build up words! It also makes my writing not as interesting to people who are detail oriented... hm... I've been trying harder this year to incorporate detail into my writing, though. Hopefully practice will make perfect!