| p>Successful stories are full of sensory details | | | | went into a bar. He had worked in the sun all day |
| (colors, shapes, textures, smells, sounds, flavors. | | | | building houses and he was very tired. Somebody |
| When your stories portray a vivid world ("three | | | | played a love song on the jukebox, and he began |
| sweet-scented roses") rather than a vague one | | | | to ache with loneliness. A waitress with piercing |
| ("some nice flowers"), you make it easier for | | | | black eyes asked him how he was doing, and he |
| readers to take the leap of faith into the world of | | | | told her a story. He made it into a funny story |
| your writing. | | | | because he didn't want her to know how lonely |
| If your story has abstract and vague wording like | | | | he really was. When he had finished, she laughed, |
| "After a while absence from home made fidelity | | | | and her laughter rang in his ears. He had not |
| difficult for him and he committed adultery...," your | | | | talked to a woman in this way in a long time |
| readers will be less interested in (and less swayed | | | | and..." |
| by) what you have to say than if your narration | | | | The details above not only make this story more |
| is filled with concrete and details such as "One | | | | vivid but transform this lonely man into an |
| evening, four months after he left his wife, he | | | | Everyman. |