The Devil's in the Details - Painting pictures

With the day job kicking into high gear, I'm relieved to have a first draft done of my next book, but first drafts are just that. There is still much work to be done. Like layering in all the missing pieces.

My writing style is a little unusual, or so I'm told. My first draft tends to be a comprehensive outline, and once I'm done, I go back in to see what's missing and to add in the "color." Things like "what did they see there?" or "How did that make her feel?" or "what were they wearing?" The devil's in the details.

The problem with writing a comprehensive outline is that I have a story. Not a very good one, but a story, nonetheless and, as an author, I can see everything clearly in my head. What I see doesn't always translate to the page, and that's where the disconnect comes. Readers need to see what I see. Feel what I feel, which is why authors are often give the advice to let their work rest once they've finished that first draft. It gives them time and space to approach their work as a reader and not live inside their own heads. Time and space provides the chance to look at a chapter and realize (hopefully!) what you've left out. For instance...

My main characters are doing a client presentation. I've shown the heroine standing in front of her closet trying to decide what to wear. She chooses a suit, appropriately enough. However, they work in a casual environment, so this is a change of pace. While a suit is appropriate for a client meeting, her coworkers aren't used to seeing her dressed up. Likewise for the hero, who she's partnering with on the presentation. She hasn't seen him in a suit either, and let's face it, a man in a suit is generally something to take note of. On my first draft, because we're in her head, we see her deliberating on her wardrobe choices and on her nerves, since she doesn't generally do client meetings. What I've completely overlooked is her reaction when she sees "him" in a suit. In fact, I didn't show how he was dressed at all in that first draft. She was so darn nervous, I left out some key visuals in the scene. I could cheat and tell you she was so nervous she didn't notice anything else, but hello! Attractive man in a suit standing right in front of you! Having said that, their boss always wears a suit, but he's also the type of man whose personality overshadows his appearance. Doesn't matter how good he looks, once he opens his mouth to speak, you forget his appearance and cringe.

Now, the funny thing about details... I did a panel with a best-selling author a few years ago, and she had mentioned how she goes light on details because different readers interpret scenes differently in their heads. She writes YA with Hispanic characters, and she'd had an African American reader come up to her asking "that guy's black, isn't he?" Because they'd related to that character. And with sparse enough details, that's possible. So of course she said yes. If that's how a reader sees a character, that's how they should be. So where's the middle ground? I had one reviewer tell me I had added too much detail in one of my books. Have to say it made me laugh since I always consider I might be too sparse on details more often than not. She wasn't specific, although I can sort of guess what she was referring to.

On another note, I just finished reading an ARC for a fellow author and was amazed at how seamlessly she added TONS of detail. Every outfit the character wore, everything she saw. Every detail of her home. It was a stunning visual display, and none of it took me out of the story itself.

How much is too much? Where do you find details engaging and where do you find them intrusive?