Quote:
Originally Posted by Heather Parker
How do people (readers and authors) feel about a lot of description in a book generally? I tend to get a little bored if it isn't necessary for the story - but I have noticed it seems very popular with judges of literary competitions. Perhaps just personal taste?
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Judges don't necessarily look at a book the way a reader does: They often look for certain elements that indicate the author's mastery of their craft, and involved descriptions are one of those elements that they like to use as a meter of quality.
In SF, writers often have to describe things in more detail simply because their settings aren't necessarily familiar to a reader... a naturalist can say "deciduous forest in the spring," and get an image across, but an SF writer has to describe growths that aren't exactly like trees, animals that aren't exactly like birds, colors that aren't typically green, etc.
When those things are needed because appreciating the setting is integral to appreciating the story, I add them. But I try not to be gratuitous about it, or leave the impression that I'm just "filling pages with prose." as a reader, I may go through a few of such descriptions, but if I get the impression they are not integral to appreciating the story, I start to skim past them.