~~ ahhh, the tedium of fantasizing

Reading the review of `Mirror of Maybe' at hp_fictalk where the major crit was 'too much detail' made me wonder about why that's such a huge pet peeve of mine (to the point where reading-- correction, trying and failing to read-- MoM gave me near physical pain). I mean, one of the most obvious flaws within my own writing is that I don't explain things (like details about the environment or what some character is thinking) enough-- because it just doesn't seem interesting or essential. I'll describe something if I've got an deeply vested interest in every tiny detail (like a sex scene-- there, you could never really have too much detail for me), but who has the capacity to be that deeply interested in every scrap of minutiae of their existence...? (Don't tell me-- those people scare me, mommy!)

It seems to me that even in original work, there should be a different balance between the various fic elements of fact (the base element of plot), exposition (ahhh, the tedium that plagues all fantasists everywhere-- diekilldieEVILDEMON!!1), dialogue (wheeeee! never too much and double-yeay if used subtly for exposition!) and atmosphere (sort of like 'setting', except cooler because it's more concise/poetical! yeay!)
    In other words, in original fic you get away with having 30-40% exposition (if you are very lame or in other words, the majority of popular fantasy authors). In non-AU fanfic, 10% is more than enough-- any more feels like someone's force-feeding the reader gruel, no matter how high the 'sugar' content. (No more gruel please!! Reena hates gruel!! Stoooopppp iiiiit maaaaasterrr!) Er. Anyway, the reader just has more of a role to play in fanfic-- they shoulder more of the burden of exposition, yeay, so the fic writer can get to the Good Stuff (character development!) fast! That's the point, no?

( And not just because I say so. But also. )