Some cultivation novels are filled with paragraphs describing every detail (against the gods, ect) while others have 2 lines at a time and don't elaborate too much (Strongest Sword God, strongest system). I was reading a fight from against the gods and it was so slow and hard to follow. By the time I knew what actions occurred I already didn't care. But with the other style I like how it gives you room to create your own imagery and react to the things that happen. I think it is genius how Strongest Sword God piggy backs off your experience playing games so readers can have vivid imagery without it being detailed. I guess I like lighter novels more but I will admit that there are times where the descriptions can give a lot of color to the story or can set up a big plot twist. Reverend Insanity has a lot of descriptions but during fights it does it a lot less which I think is a good balance. What do you prefer and why?
Generally, other than introductions to set up the setting, the english language is intended to be light and to the point. As for what I prefer? I prefer light, I don't care for long descriptions because let us be honest they go out one ear and out the other. We all set our own imaginations for the scenes anyways. If anything, just put a picture which is worth a 1000 words and skip the long essay describing everything. I can't help but cringe when half a chapter is just describing things, it feels like I did a bunch of reading and got nowhere. CN novels get paid by the word so them being filled with lots of wordspam isn't surprising.
I guess, something in between? you know just enough description to let you know what is going but at the same time detailed enough to give you the right image and idea about how the fight (for example since you mentioned as an example) occured and not let you go too far with your imagination thus maybe giving you the wrong impression about the move or the ongoing action
Depends on the situation, i like descriptiveness in certain situations, like does she have a bush or a landing strip, what colour is it, how pink is she. How big are the twin peaks. All very important research material.
There isn't going to be a clear cut answer because it's not a clear cut question. Some situations require more description than others and the mark of a good writer is being able to figure out how much to put into their stories. While a good balance is obviously the best way to do things, I find that a lack of description is one of the three worst mistakes made by amateur writers. While I still read these stories, I find that this lack makes them pretty flavorless. Writing like this just isn't able to hold my interest unless the story does something special. On the flip side, while overly descriptive prose is also bad, it's less of a problem as long as the writer puts in enough effort in the rest of the story.
That's why I was talking about specific examples and trying to be less general, I think the overly descriptive prose can be good as well. Why do people worship lord of the mysteries? That story describes every object in his room in chapter 1 for no reason and the descriptions continue yet lots of people love it. elengee I agree, I like when it describes the girls twin peaks and backstory thoroughly lolol
For action scenes i like it to be more light. But other thing should be a bit more descriptive i guess? But not to the point of explaining everything that doesn't actually matter.
Lmao, against the gods is descriptive? "Her face was like jade and her expression could not be described with mere words. [NEW HAREM MEMBER] was as beautiful as a star in the night sky! Her body was perfect, and her breasts were sublime. Perhaps only Jasmine (a fucking child!) could compare to this unique beauty." That's the sort of descriptions you get from ATG. I can honestly say I have no idea what any of the characters in that novel look like - I don't have the slightest impression of any of them. A million words that don't mean anything.
It depends on your target audience and what you're writing. If it's for LN readers, then it's obvious. They're not here for a tedious read. Also Xianxia novels are verbose not descriptive, they just say the same explanation, reactions, jokes, etc. over and over again to increase word count. Everybody hates that. Also by being descriptive, it has to be backed by facts, not just some lame attempt of thw author to sound smart. It's such a turnoff.