Imaginative Power Belongs in the Hands of the Reader

You’ve readit before: long, descriptive paragraphs dedicated to setting the scene or painting a picture of acharacter.

Which you promptly forget. If you read the paragraph at all. (I skim. You probably do too.)

Book bloggers enjoy casting real people in the role of their favorite book characters, and the variety of their choices shows that readers will imagine what they want to, regardless of an author’s description. Which usually means extended description is a waste of words.

When you understa...