When is the description too much
- RoxieReads
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Re: When is the description too much
- KCWolf
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An entire book of "telling" can be just as boring as a book of rambling descriptive passages. Yes, some sensory details are great but too much and readers are experiencing more of the scenery than the scene itself, so to speak.
I think most GOOD books contain just the right amount of showing and telling.
I also don't care for too much detail in sex scenes or unnecessary profanity. If it fits the scene or the character speaking I can understand using a curse word or two. However, I don't need a play by play of what two characters are doing in the bedroom.
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- Nisha Ward
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As for the graphic scenes as well as the sex and foul language, I personally think it's best to have a warning for readers. Some people like reading details like that, some don't. I think it's just a matter of preference and writing style. This is only my opinion, though.
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- NataMav
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It literally gets too boring and too long to remember.
So my point is that the description can be good if it's spaced out evenly between the paragraph and pages, but isn't just randomly thrown in. I hope this makes sense.
- DD129
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with profanity and such, i think it's better to have one or two characters to be the cursers and others to not, if you're going to have a story with that. sometimes people think it's better to lay it on thick, and make it more "adult" by filling sentences with words or making too many exclamations of the f-word at any turn of events. dude, you can use other things than that. at some point, it gets hard to decipher who's talking because everybody curses the same amount, like i get it, your chars are from the mob but....seriously. the same with sex too - you can tell when it gets gratuitous, and that's good to some people, but like in Cynthia and Dan - would we not all prefer for her not to diddle Sky and get pregnant? maybe that's just me?
also, another point to do with specifically Cynthia and Dan is that details were often more tell than show, but there were still so many details that added endless filler to the story. and i totally agree with the point that the birth control bit was odd. on a bit of an off note, why did she not know what Plan B was, and why did he read it to her?! can she not read?! can they not read silently because the reader already has gotten the message?! anyways.
my biggest peeve is that Cynthia was told to be some cool blackbelt chica yet ignored so, so many red flags, and never truly showed off her skills. additionally, she was described as some luscious hot lady so many times, yet we never - despite all that description - got a good look at her face, only her hair and a few scenes where male characters fawned over her. which were creepy. AKA the time Sky stared at her lips while she tried to drink her water. so there's my rant.
- Jacquelyn-63
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I hate sex scenes in books. They are boring and distasteful in my opinion. There are so many better ways to describe intimacy than just sex. Five Feet Apart was a brilliant example of a relationship without touch. With Cynthia and Dan the warning alone of a sex scene made me grimace. It was like flashing a huge sign that wasn't needed.greystreak wrote: ↑13 Jul 2019, 14:47 I just finished reading Cynthia and Dan: Cyber War by Dorothy Mercer[/i]. I felt the characters were not given enough personality or physical attributes to make them interesting. I felt that the reader could not connect to the story due to the lack of information.
Then we read It’s hard to be a Vampire by Viktoria Faust where the details were so graphically intense that the book, in my opinion, was a disaster to read.
When is a book to graphic for you?
In my opinion, the writer can leave out the detailed sex scenes and foul language. I have been reading Nora Roberts for over 20 years and never have her love scenes been distasteful and the foul language is at a minimum. As J D Robb her In Death series, there is some foul language but it flows with the story. I do not get the feeling she adds foul words to follow the modern trend of writers today.
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