Ever wondered why some genres seem to demand a richer tapestry of details than others? In this video, I explore the necessity of description in genres like fantasy, horror, and sci-fi—where world-building takes center stage.
I emphasize the importance of creating an interactive and immersive experience without boring the reader with pages of dry exposition and share the perspective of literary agent Connor Goldsmith and what he’s looking for in sci-fi, fantasy, or horror manuscripts.
Hello, Jane Cleland here. The question is, “Are there certain genres that require more description rather than other genres?” And I think the answer is yes. Fantasy, horror, sci-fi—those are the obvious ones because they require world building. And you know, world building is not just a description of the environment of the setting; it is everything that goes into making this world. That’s legal systems, currency, food, music, the appearance of the creatures that populate it. It is how they interact, social hierarchies, and the like. And when you think about this from this perspective, you can see that it’s going to require some time to create that immersive experience.
But I don’t want you to be thinking I’m suggesting you write X number of pages of exposition. Not at all. You need to do the description in an interactive manner, showing the creatures that populate the world interacting with the world.
Now, Connor Goldsmith, literary agent with Fuse Agency, who specializes in fantasy and horror, really wants that deep, immersive experience, and he says he’s okay with up to 75 pages before the inciting incident. That’s a lot. That’s long. But he, again, isn’t looking for just pages of dry description. He’s looking for interactivity. So he gets to know the characters and he gets to know the world. And then when something happens, that creates the conflict that catapults the story forward, he’s ready.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on how much description is appropriate in whatever genre you’re working in. Put it in the comment section. And if this video had value for you, would you like it? Would you share it? Would you subscribe to the channel? That opens up features for us that lets us make these videos even more valuable for you. Thanks so much.
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