Put In or Take Out?

I mentioned in my last post that I'm listening to a lecture series on writing great fiction. The speaker (James Hynes) is also an author, though I don't think I've read any of his work. One of the points he made is about including enough detail to draw the reader into the story. He says he tends to overwrite the details in the first draft, because it's easier to remove the unimportant details than to add them in. I have to admit I'm the opposite. In my first draft, I'm still feeling out scene goals, plot points, and dialogue, so the setting tends to take a back seat. I try to work in more details when I'm more familiar with the story and the setting. The exception is when I'm working in story worlds that I've previously used, so I already know what the world is like.

Every author has a different approach to writing, and sometimes an author will change their writing process for different stories. (I'm doing this myself with my current works in progress. Both of them follow several different characters as POV/protagonists. I plan to have short chapters in these books and have the POV switch to a new character with each chapter. I normally write each chapter in order, but in this situation, I'm finding it easier to stick with one character for several scenes, even if I plan to break them up later.) Obviously, Hynes' approach works for him. Do you prefer to include a lot of details in your first draft, or do you work them in later? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.