An exquisite painting is before you. The majesty, colors, highlights, detailed brush-strokes, softer blur of the shadows…the source of light is defined by objects’ shadows. The artist isn't there, detailing each miniscule droplet of paint layered on; you don't need that much detail. The finished masterpiece stands before you.

The painting is of a woodland glade. You can't see behind trees, under bushes, beneath rocks; all details are not displayed. Impressionists placed dots and daubs of paint upon canvas, yet your eye takes in colors and shapes and reveals back the finished whole.

As a writer, your "pallet" is loaded with graphic words as distinctly as an artist loads a brush with paint. The finished product is your sole creation, full of texture, color, light, shapes, shadows. You alone must decide the source of light, the same as an artist. You add details, word by word, layer by layer. Readers won't have you there discussing each miniscule letter set beside the next to paint in words the details of your story. The finished masterpiece stands before them.

My brother, Dan was an art teacher. One of his students had a painting hanging in the Kennedy Center for the Arts in Washington. D.C. To Dan, the worst type of painting invented is paint-by-number. In his mind, it’s so degrading to art; it brings tears of anguish to his creative soul.

The LDS romance-reading audience is discerning. The difference between a tender love scene and trashy lust: was love conveyed by special looks, quiet words, gentle caresses, with no real details of the sacred acts of love? Or did the author wield a heavy hand with the paint-by-number lusty details, using the “light source” from the darker side, and nothing left to the imagination? They will note who scripts the masterpieces, using celestial light sources and uplifting messages.

We have great imaginations. Give us a word canvas; we paint the picture. The stories we craft will be our legacy to posterity. The “brush” is ours, as is the “canvas”. What will be the legacy of our tapestry? The choice is ours.