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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/48145
License name: CC BY-SA 4.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

I've always struggled with sensory details in my writing --I'm a dialog-and-plot kind of writer. But for me, writing details really came alive when I discovered your number three approach. When done right, **the details offer you so much opportunity for layered, immersive storytelling.** Perfunctory, by-the-book, generic "filler" details definitely aren't worth the space they take up on the page.

For that reason I think **it's NOT overkill for every word and every detail to mean something**. Every detail IS important in the work of the great writers. But the key is to not foreground the work you're doing. It should _feel_ organic, even when it isn't, and operate largely at a subconscious level for the reader. If the reader is noticing how clever or how hardworking you are, it's not a good thing.

I've elaborated more on [the ways of using details](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/46974/building-a-scene-and-readability/47006#47006) in answers elsewhere, but you seem to have a good handle on the general idea --you want to **put the reader in the head, and mind, and perspective and history of the character** , and not just give a dry recital of the objects in the room.

Original score: 5