Quality or Quantity?

[Jonathan Meer]

You're weird.

Anyway, the goal of a writer is to ultimately entertain the reader. To do this, you want to say what you can as powerfully as possible without using any extra words. Essentially, you need to cut the fat. In poetry, this is entirely crucial, utilized on a word-by-word basis, but it also has application to prose. If you can say three sentences in one concise sentence, DO IT. But not if it sacrifices some of the meaning.

This is more of a stylistic question, anyway. Douglas Adams was very concise with his writing (though he utilized redundancies for comedic effect, something that I dabble with every once in awhile), while Tom Clancy expounds on things a bit more. Both are pleasureable to read, I think. Find your niche in the writing world, and figure out what works best for you.

My final words are this: You don't need to describe every little thing to create a powerful scene. Describe two or three details vividly, and let the reader paint the rest of the picture. We can't steal that from them.