Detail

Just a few quotes on detail in fiction, from 'Writing Fiction: A guide to narrative craft' by Janet Burroway and Elizabeth Stuckey-French.

"The points to be made are two, and they are both important. The first is that the writer must deal in sense detail. The second is that these must be details that matter"
Burroway and Stuckey-French

"If those who have studied the art of writing are in accord on any one point, it is on this: the surest way to arouse and hold the attention of the reader is by being specific, definite and concrete. The greatest writers...are effectively largely because they deal in particulars and report details that matter."
'The elements of style' William Strunk Jr.

"Good writers may "tell" about almost anything in fiction except the characters feelings. One may tell the reader that the character went to a private school...or one may tell the reader that the character hates spagetti; but with rare exceptions the charcters' feelings must be demonstrated: fear, love, excitement, doubt, embarrassment, despair become real only when they take the form of events— action (or gesture), dialogue, or physical reaction to setting. Detail is the lifeblood of fiction.
John Gardner