TFW you read Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe books, you come across the mention of Sgt. Harper's multi-barrelled gun, and you think, "Holy crap, this is just like the Iliad where Homer goes into a long description of the hero's weapons to increase dramatic tension before a battle scene."
In Elmore Leonards "10 Rules on Writing" he talks about Steinbeck including "hooplah" chapters (i forget the book) as chapters the narrator tells the reader the might want to skip as they're irrelevant to the plot, but Leonard notes he read every chapter.
Every "never do this in your novel" has powerful counterexamples in great literature. Do what you need to do, but own it, do it well, and let your passion come through!
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