write around what you want your reader to focus on. when basquiat crosses out words in his paintings, your brain charges these words with meaning. it's like when someone in the neighborhood is grilling hamburgers. it makes you hungry for hamburgers, even though nothing around you resembles food. make your reader hungry without placing a burger right in front of them. the reader's imagination creates the ideal burger from the smell. if you set a hamburger in front of them, something might be wrong with it and turn the reader off. give them the whiff and let their brains do the rest.