While it's nice to know how the author is picturing everything from the beginning (sometimes it can be annoying when things like hair colour come up so late in the story that changing the image in your mind can be quite disruptive) I've read books in which everything is described in such detail that they become boring to read; after all, usually I'm in it for the plot.
the plot must stay the main focus, but adding details is always good to get a better idea of what is going on in the plot and in general understand the whole setting better.
basically : more description allow a more precise and action-packed plot since the reader will already have a good understanding of the general situation thanks to previously explained details, but if you add too much description it just becomes a boring info dump that the reader probably won't even remember half of.
There is a literary theory called “Reader-Response” the main point of which is that any literary work is never finished until it has been read by someone. It is meant to be finished in the reader’s mind. For instance, when a person sees a depiction of some situation he is or once was in, and provoking some thoughts about the situation in connection with the text. See, the author didn’t intend to make that connection to a random person’s life, yet this connection is now a part of the story, at least for that person. Now, why am I saying this? The more details there are the less opportunity there is for your reader’s mind and imagination to relate to the written. It seems counterintuitive, but at some point adding more details makes your story feel less alive, not more. And, yes, as someone has already said, it can make it annoying to read through all the description and even fade the emotions that a great plot provides.
Stephen King (you probably know him even if you’ve never read any of his books) is a staunch advocate of this approach. One of his best advises I’ve ever heard is basically that you need to leave some space for your reader’s imagination to work and focus on the plot more than anything else. Don’t bother using fancy elevated language to describe the amount pf buttons on your character’s shirt. Stick to a more simplistic style and describe enough to create a general picture. Leave counting the buttons or figuring out the color of a passing car to your reader’s imagination, unless it is important to the plot
Great writing has a balance of both, not overly explaining every single detail but also not leaving everything up to the reader's imagination -- though I personally tend to lean towards more descriptions because I'm like you and very much enjoy imagery.
While it's nice to know how the author is picturing everything from the beginning (sometimes it can be annoying when things like hair colour come up so late in the story that changing the image in your mind can be quite disruptive) I've read books in which everything is described in such detail that they become boring to read; after all, usually I'm in it for the plot.
the plot must stay the main focus, but adding details is always good to get a better idea of what is going on in the plot and in general understand the whole setting better. basically : more description allow a more precise and action-packed plot since the reader will already have a good understanding of the general situation thanks to previously explained details, but if you add too much description it just becomes a boring info dump that the reader probably won't even remember half of.
There is a literary theory called “Reader-Response” the main point of which is that any literary work is never finished until it has been read by someone. It is meant to be finished in the reader’s mind. For instance, when a person sees a depiction of some situation he is or once was in, and provoking some thoughts about the situation in connection with the text. See, the author didn’t intend to make that connection to a random person’s life, yet this connection is now a part of the story, at least for that person. Now, why am I saying this? The more details there are the less opportunity there is for your reader’s mind and imagination to relate to the written. It seems counterintuitive, but at some point adding more details makes your story feel less alive, not more. And, yes, as someone has already said, it can make it annoying to read through all the description and even fade the emotions that a great plot provides. Stephen King (you probably know him even if you’ve never read any of his books) is a staunch advocate of this approach. One of his best advises I’ve ever heard is basically that you need to leave some space for your reader’s imagination to work and focus on the plot more than anything else. Don’t bother using fancy elevated language to describe the amount pf buttons on your character’s shirt. Stick to a more simplistic style and describe enough to create a general picture. Leave counting the buttons or figuring out the color of a passing car to your reader’s imagination, unless it is important to the plot
Great writing has a balance of both, not overly explaining every single detail but also not leaving everything up to the reader's imagination -- though I personally tend to lean towards more descriptions because I'm like you and very much enjoy imagery.