ne colorful anecdote is worth a thousand generalities: the more specific the scene, the more you can say about the whole picture.

You don’t need many words to describe a scene. You just need the right ones. A description that rambles on for too long may be informative, but reading can’t be just informative. It needs to be entertaining as well, to keep your reader engaged. Great writing can be many things, but it is never boring.

Gatsby is a mysterious millionaire who’s famous for throwing lavish and opulent parties at his home. But beneath the sparkling glamor lies a profound sadness that reflects the emptiness at the core of Gatsby’s life. The sentence above communicates those ideas in a short, specific scene.

First, it focuses on place. The phrase “blue gardens” is dense with meaning; those two words are a microcosm of the entire sentence. The party is cast in shades of blue… it’s sad…. Gatsby is sad; his life is hollow. Even if there are “stars in the sky” and stars at the party, no amount of champagne or Rolls-Royces or motorboats can fill the emptiness that sits at the center of these lavish parties.

Second, it focuses on people. Instead of saying, “the party was made up of superficial friends who flocked to Gatsby for his money,” Fitzgerald tells us that the guests “came and went like moths.” They were only attracted to the bright lights. This colorful metaphor communicates the same meaning in fewer words, and without breaking the action of the party.

Fitzgerald accomplishes all this in a single sentence.