“My creative writing teacher is just trying to aggravate me,” Hal said.
“How so?” Martha asked.
“She gave me a D on my latest fiction story,” Hal lamented. “Can you believe that? It was a literary work of art.”
“Did she explain why she gave you a D?” Martha asked.
“Yeah,” Hal answered. “She said my story was full of extraneous stuff that added nothing to the narrative.”
“Well, Hal,” Martha said, “you do tend to be wordy in your writing. You’re a budding author, Hal. You wouldn’t want her to sugarcoat her constructive criticism, would you?”
“Oh come on Martha,” Hal said. “I need to set the scene for my readers by painting a picture with my words. I need to vividly describe my characters so the readers can visualize them in their minds.
“Maybe you should let your readers use more of their imagination rather than being so descriptive,” Martha said. “Perhaps your teacher is trying to tell you that you’re overdoing it.”
“Martha,” Hal said, “you’ve read my stories. You have to admit that I have a way with words.”
“Yes, Hal,” Martha said, “you do have a way with words, but perhaps you should listen to your creative writing teacher and do away with words…at least some of them.”
Written for these daily prompts: Word of the Day Challenge (aggravate), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (extraneous), Ragtag Daily Prompt (bud), and The Daily Spur (coat).
This, That, and the Other 
Well said — let the reader create the picture from the broad strokes. In the end, it’s all about the reader. After all, there’s only one writer (usually), but potentially many, many readers.
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That’s the way it should be. Trigger the reader’s imagination.
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Great use of the prompts.
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Thanks, Lauren.
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Great story Fandango! I remember at uni, critiquing another student’s work. It was so wordy, I had no idea what he was trying to convey. I read it, and read it again, Googled the meaning of the words was still confused. Critiquing others’ work is hard, harder still to have your own work assessed, but so important!
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I agree. No one likes to have their efforts criticized, but we should each be open to constructive criticism from knowledgeable sources. And that’s especially true, I believe, for writers.
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Aww, that must’ve hurt!
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😂
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😉
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A good lesson to remember!
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