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In my opinion (and I'm sure everyone has an opinion, so I wouldn't claim to be an expert), I would describe it in a generalized format, then center on one or two images that would describe this… For example (Use prohibited, example only, please): Pictures lined the wall, portraits that showed a kid at birthday parties, school portraits, and playing sports. Each picture presented a smug son-of-bitch, the smile that said "I'm better than you" and the look to play it entirely. One caught my eye. The little prick crying while surrounded by presents at a party. God I hated him; I wished I'd had a mountain of presents like him, I wished I'd had a family like he had, and he was crying! Another picture, this one caught at the moment he was throwing a sweater across the room, his face distorted in anger. Why would someone put that up there, as though they were proud of this display?

yesssss, I like this tip. It instantly brings an image to mind. Dude, that’s what’s up! So…. You’ve never been able to get into stories that put too much detail into their descriptions? But you’re gulity of it in Come Hell or High Water!!! Shame @Tcr !!! I’m just kidding I was gratreful for your help in my story, cuz I wanted to gear up and explain EVERY LAST DETAIL of that landscaping office. I like that scene so much better now, although I was upset at the time, after the description was cut down. I didn’t need to explain every last business card to get the effect of ‘we do landscaping here, fuckers!!!’ I always thought my stories lacked description. So I’ve been trying not to forget it. As soon as my character enters a new setting, I make a big old paragraph of description… I feel so lame. I had my character enter somene’s house twice now, and he notices pictures on the wall. I was highlighting another character’s past, it was a childhood pic of her. and the other house, well, my character was about to meet his half brother for the first time and he saw YET AGAIN childhood pictures of him… My character was bitter because his half brother looked like a typical spoiled brat, crying at a birthday party, pouting with an ice cream cone, shit like that. But is describing pics in this way stupid??? idk. it’s relevant. The half brother is INDEED a brat. So I’m sure it’s ok… i guess. :-S

Jean entered the manhole, the putrid smell assaulting his nose and he pulled his thick shirt over his mouth. It did little to settle his stomach from the smell, but it was still better than before. He did not want to imagine what it would be like later. (20 pages later, all describing the intricacies of the Paris sewer. Five on the architecture, five on the smells, five on the noises, five on the rats) In short, Jean found it to be hell right now. I've never been able to get into stories that put that much detail into their stories. Don't get me wrong, I love details, as Anon said, details help to create the world, and are a great way for the reader to infer certain elements without saying them. To use the example, the half used, blue eraser on the desk of a detective. It's a good way to imply many things about this detective. Further details would narrow it down further regarding things on his desk. Just, like DP said, don’t over do it. (...I'm guilty of it, so... My Come Hell or High Water, I had a long description of what was not necessary at the time description... Although I felt it was, later came to realize it wasn’t entirely and cut things...)

I’m a bit more cautious as I was quoting from my own works…. Thanks for the compliment. On the rewrite, I was like, “don’t change this!” Apart from an odd grammar/spelling thing or two, it stayed intact.

Lol! I made fun of Tcr but I'm guessing this is a typical format for quoted samples... My bad! You guys are all so serious :-P I think your example works well. I like the inclusion of the sounds, it's an interesting and unique way to quickly draw up the image of a trotting horse. And then you zoom in and pick out a few important details here and there. The stacks of coffins, the cobblestones, the boy in forest green climbing the fire escape... It's a wonderful image! I can see this very clearly!

I try to avoid opening paragraphs of detail…. My current story starts with sound. And I nest details in with the actions, quoting the start to my story (use prohibited, example only): And yes, I agonize on the opening, because that’s key to drawing in a reader.

Very nice example, providing details and emotional weight without massive academic detail.

I try to make it a rule of thumb that things like background and descriptions can only be a few paragraphs at a time before something happens to move the focus away. Since that was the kind of thing that makes for big blocks of text, my average paragraph length is much shorter than when I started. Another rule is that one speaker, one idea is a paragraph. I know my eyes glaze when paragraphs hit 20+ lines and I start skipping to where shorter paragraphs say I’m past the too much detail. I know I probably miss a few guns but I want to get to the good stuff: dialog, tortured angst, or action of some kind. Maybe all three at once?

This is an interesting youtube video about Australia, called “Why is there no crisis in Australia?” done by a British guy. Interesting and informative. It only goes for 11 minutes.

I’ll add in small details, to a few items, just so it’s more than “a desk”, or a “light”, but a “yellow light” or “wood desk”, adds a small bit of vividness. (Of course, don’t go overboard and spend five chapters describing the intricacies of the Paris sewer system.)

Glancing at wikipedia on derivative works… (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derivative_work) and… Guess it comes down to whether or not it’s “authorized” …. And we all know fanfics can be done commercially, with permission. J.J Abrams being quite successful at it.

You're sound incredibly knowledgeable! Wow... I've always struggled with setting scenery, I guess I've gotten better but I really like the way you just explained the eraser. To keep your descriptions short, sweet and RELEVANT, the details you're going to focus will "speak thematically" about your setting. Lol, don't mind me! I'm taking notes! See, I'm straddling the fence between your point and @Anon's. I HATE outlining as well. When I started to get serious about writing I bought a book on outling and started plotting! I lost interest so fucking quick. I didn't want to go any further because I WAS BORED. I've found a somewhat happy medium. I have a general idea where I want my story to go, but how I get there? That's up to the characters. I toss ideas away quite a bit because once I'm actually in the scene, something else happens and I like like better, I'm not restricting myself, I just go with it. Idk thou. Ive got some complicated story ideas I'll probably start working on in the next year or so (I've got too much on my writing plate atm) and while I'll use some of our preferred pantsing, I'll try to use some of @Anon's advice about adding meaning with setting and description. I already *know* I want a Checkov's gun, I'll just keep that in mind and look for a good place to put it as I pants my way along!