Pertinent Details

I once had a professor who, when he critiqued my work, would always want more. More adjectives, more description, more characterization, more detail, etc. I didn't understand why he would do this, especially since my pieces were always the longest in the class. Recently I came across a few old stories he had critiqued while packing up some more of my stuff for the (hopefully soon) upcoming move. Nearly four years later, I finally grasped that what he had been trying to do was exhaust our writing abilities. He wanted us to expand, to pour out everything we had onto the page. He wanted us to give up every word we could think of, detail every event and blade of grass, explain every aspect of our characters' appearance, countenance, and inner thought process.

His class, I understood, was like a giant brainstorming session. Put everything out and don't hold back.

Occasionally, I run into similar situations with beta readers and critique buddies. Someone will latch onto a passing detail and not let go.

"I'm really interested in this coffee machine," they'll say. "When the protagonist sees it, is it something she recognizes? Is it a single cup machine, or is it brewing great quantities at a time? And what about this steam coming from behind the counter? Does she know it's normal for the machine to steam or is she worried that this giant chrome machine is going to explode? Really, if you're not going to focus on the coffee machine, I'd skip it entirely. Otherwise, the reader's mind will be pulled out of the story."

In your mind, the coffee machine was nothing but a grounding detail in the coffee shop. A little sight detail, maybe some smell, sound, and taste. Nothing more.

You never thought it'd be so important to some people.

As the writer it's your job to discern which details require your and the reader's attention. Whether it's a pushy professor or a detail oriented critiquer, ultimately, it's your job to find the pertinent details.

Are those limbo poles going to resurface later in the story in an important way? No? Then cut their half a page description.

Is it going to matter whether the coffee machine can brew one cup or multiple at a time? No? Don't mention it.

Will your protagonist's hair color really make or break this murder investigation? No? Don't sweat plopping it awkwardly into the text.

Toss the things (whether they be details of your own creation or comments from a critiquer) that aren't pertinent details. Only keep what characterizes your characters, advances the plot, or adds tension. Everything else,

yes, everything,

must be deleted.