Description vs. Dialogue

Which do you prefer?

  • Dialogue focused

    Votes: 1 5.0%
  • Description focused

    Votes: 3 15.0%
  • In the middle

    Votes: 16 80.0%

  • Total voters
    20

DubstheDuke

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May 19, 2020
Messages
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So I posted a certain poll on a different site to get people's views on a certain topic, and here were the results.

1609462622660.png


As you can see, there were a total of ZERO people out of 13 who prefer a story that focuses on description over dialogue.

Now, perhaps it was the user base of this particular site which I posted this question on, therefore I would like to gather some more opinions on this topic.

It is also possible that my wording influenced this result? Does my wording sound somewhat biased towards dialogue, and as a result of that people chose that option over description?

So? Which do you prefer? A story with a lot of juicy description to the point where you are immersed in the world, or one with well crafted dialogue which deeply represents complex characters, emotional/psychological conflicts, and themes.
 
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ArcanePunkster

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 6, 2020
Messages
90
Points
58
I personally prefer dialogue most of the time because seeing it through the characters perspective is sometimes better than getting an info dump on what everything looks like.

Then again there's also advantages to descriptive writing styles like in J.R.R Tolkien's works set in Middle Earth.
 

CL

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 30, 2020
Messages
507
Points
133
So I posted a certain poll on a different site to get people's views on a certain topic, and here were the results.

View attachment 5666

As you can see, there were a total of ZERO people out of 13 who prefer a story that focuses on description over dialogue.

Now, perhaps it was the user base of this particular site which I posted this question on, therefore I would like to gather some more opinions on this topic.

It is also possible that my wording influenced this result? Does my wording sound somewhat biased towards dialogue, and as a result of that people chose that option over description?

So? Which do you prefer? A story with a lot of juicy description to the point where you are immersed in the world, or one with well crafted dialogue which deeply represents complex characters, emotional/psychological conflicts, and themes.
Description can give you an idea, an image, of this world and what is going on. Dialogue can be a nice break from the wall of text and be an opportunity to give an impression this story is progressing or add a tiny glimmer of thrill. What I mean by "thrill" is that the interactions between characters can be exciting if you've been exposed to fine details for awhile. Believe me when I say that an entire chapter with nobody talking and having absolute scenery as far as the eye can see (for both characters and readers) can be a comforting situation that grows towards being cozy with a threat of falling into a coma.
 
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