History Main / LeftFieldDescription

* ''ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'' features this now and then. The LemonyNarrator will sprinkle details about someone or something's appearance throughout a scene (possibly meant to imply that the Baudelaires are just noticing them).
* ''The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.'' - The first line of William Gibson's ''{{Neuromancer}}''.

* NeilGaiman does this particularly well in ''Literature/AnansiBoys'': ''If on seeing Graham Coats you immediately thought of an albino ferret in an expensive suit, you wouldn't be the first.''

* This trope is part of the SignatureStyle of DouglasAdams.

* Creator/ChuckPalahniuk, frequently, especially in ''Lullaby''.

** [[JustifiedTrope Because, of course,]] the protagonist is a journalist who repeatedly mentions the necessity of noting every detail of everything. So he does.

* ''It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.'' - Likewise, the first line of George Orwell's ''[[Literature/NineteenEightyFour 1984]]''.
** That actually sets the tone pretty well for the whole book. It's just...''off.''

* ChuckPalahniuk, frequently, especially in ''Lullaby''.

In this scene, Max (age 11) is talking to a girl on whom he has a crush about something of great importance, in the girl's house. While they talk, she runs her foot along the rug, and wow, [[FootFocus what a beautiful foot]]. You can tell Brooke is a classy girl with those glittering flowers.

Some authors either [[BadWriting don't understand this]], or [[TheyPlottedAPerfectlyGoodWaste choose to deliberately]] [[SubvertedTrope subvert it]]. They may describe every little unimportant thing in tremendous detail, which is known as PurpleProse. Or they may describe the important elements of a story in ways that you wouldn't normally think of, using bizarre metaphors or describing things unconventionally in their attempt to make a detail illustrate something of importance.

** Robert J. Sawyer's ''Wake'' (2009) opens with a TechnologyMarchesOn twist: “The sky above the island was the colour of television, tuned to a dead channel — which is to say it was a bright, cheery blue.”

* ''GreyGriffins'' was the example used above in the article. The series has some strange writing flaws, but only a handful of stuff that really jumps out like this.

* The ''InheritanceCycle'' is '''filled''' with this sort of thing.

* PeterSBeagle's ''Literature/TheLastUnicorn'' has a lot of these.

Same is true with aspects of a character's everyday life. If someone's daily routine is described in great detail, then it's usually to demonstrate some character quirk (they're a CreatureOfHabit, or have SuperOCD), or show how that character feels at that point in time (if they've just been through something you'd expect to fundamentally affect them but [[AngstWhatAngst aren't thinking about it]], it could suggest a HeroicBSOD).

Same is true with aspects of a character's everyday life. If someone's daily routine is described in great detail, then it's usually to demonstrate some character quirk, or show how that character feels at that point in time while doing the routine.

Some authors don't seem to understand this. They may describe every little unimportant thing in tremendous detail, which is known as PurpleProse. Or they may describe the important elements of a story in ways that you wouldn't normally think of, using bizarre metaphors or describing things unconventionally in their attempt to make a detail illustrate something of importance.

* ''TheInheritanceTrilogy'' is '''filled''' with this sort of thing.

* There are a couple of instances in ''{{Discworld}}'' of items 'flying through the air, like a partridge'.

* ''It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.'' - Likewise, the first line of George Orwell's ''[[NineteenEightyFour 1984]]''.

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Same is true with aspects of a character's everyday life. If someone's daily routine is described in great detail, then it's usually to demonstrate some character quirk, or show how that character feels at that point in time while doing the routine.

* ''TheInheritanceTrilogy'' is '''filled''' with this sort of thing.

* ''ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'' features this now and then. The LemonyNarrator will sprinkle details about someone or something's appearance throughout a scene (possibly meant to imply that the Baudelaires are just noticing them).

* PGWodehouse ''loves'' doing this. One character has the look of "a pterodactyl with a secret sorrow".

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*** Ask [[{{Noir}} Kouichi Mashimo]]...
**** Rain. Thousands of it.
*** JRRTolkien, too. The [[TheLordOfTheRings Dawnless Day(s)]] where Sauron had veiled the sky and it stayed dark throughout.

* NeilGaiman does this particularly well in ''AnansiBoys'': ''If on seeing Graham Coats you immediately thought of an albino ferret in an expensive suit, you wouldn't be the first.''

* I'm pretty sure there are a couple of instances in ''{{Discworld}}'' of items 'flying through the air, like a partridge'.

In novels, things tend to flow in a way that makes sense according to how the story is meant to work. Important things are described in great detail, while less important things are just glossed over. Any "jump out at you" details are usually meant to mean something. If someone is described as having lips like cherry and eyes like chocolate, that person is probably beautiful (within the context of the story, or at least in the perception of the author). Little details bring a story to life, and they are usually given to the parts of the story the author considers important.