I always feel that if order for someone to see what you are describing you must be detailed.

Not necessarily true. I remember attending a workshop with Isabel Huggan (a not-very-well-known Cdn writer), and she talked about describing a table in one of her stories in great detail - in the first draft or two of that story. The table in all its glory was not mentioned in the story in the end - it was referred to as "the table" or with very little extra detail - but Isabel thought the important thing was to have imagined it fully.

I can't remember who gave this advice about writing, but someone (a writer, too!) once said that you should read over all your writing, and when you come to a passage you particularly like, strike it out....This was given as advice for avoiding purple prose, methinks!

If you want advice on writing, one of the best things you can do is follow the advice above (about reading lots, and writing lots) - and while you're reading, include The Writer's Quotation Book: A Literary Companion, edited by James Charlton. It has many gems in it. Some examples:

Any writer overwhemingly honest about pleasing himself is almost sure to please others. ~ Marianne Moore

My purpose is to entertain myself first and other people secondly. ~ John D. MacDonald

I never care to converse with a man who has written more than he has read. ~ Samuel Johnson

I only read two books in my life and that includes The Official Pete Rose Scrapbook. That's not a book - that's a bunch of pictures. I done the captions. I've written more damn books than I've read. ~ Pete Rose

It's not the most intellectual job in the world, but I do have to know the letters. ~ Vanna White

It's witty, it's irreverent, it's reverent, it's frustrating, it's illuminating. I always like reading what other writers (eg, not Pete Rose!) have to say about writing - sometimes it gives me hope, and sometimes it gives me a much-needed reality check.

Welcome to the board, duckie! You'll get lots of opportunities to find your voice here.

If you can't see the bright side, polish the dull side.