Dear Geist,

I keep getting contradictory advice on how much detail to include in my stories. One teacher says “Less is more,” and another says, “God is in the details.”

Dear H.S.,

They’re both right. Concise language gives your prose energy, and sensory information gives it resonance. The key is to stick to the telling details—the details that matter. Ask yourself:

: “Same face Uncle, Mother—blank eyes, straight mouth. They run on the energy of cornered rodents.”

: “And the relentless eyes: gaping, squinting, penetrating, shying away, looking you up and down…”

drive or thicken the story, such as a few stowaway expository details that aren’t pulling their weight?