on Helping Writers become Authors:
In fiction, authors aren’t always able to sketch every detail of a character’s actions, feelings, appearance, and surroundings. Particularly in the current trend of minimalistic descriptions, we’re lucky to get away with even two paragraphs of description.
This can present quite a problem for authors who want to paint a vivid picture in their readers’ imagination, but don’t want to bore them with excess information.
The solution is a deft use of the “telling detail.”
Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog 