I was looking at the last book I wrote. In it, I failed to meet the word count I had set for myself by a big margin, like 40,000 words instead of 60-70,000.
Doing a post mortem, I found that most of my work has a lot of dialogue, and very little description. But when I look at published books, they use a mixture of dialogue and description / narrative summary.
How do I add some description to my book, without turning it into "telling", or boring the reader with unnecessary detail?
Answer
First of all, don't let yourself become a prisoner to your word count. If your story is complete and it only has 40,000 words, then so be it. It sounds like you need to ask yourself whether or not your story really is complete. If it takes place in one location and is almost entirely between two characters, then you may not have a lot to describe. However, if you are changing scenes and settings, then you need to make sure your readers are able to recognize that.
One of the ways you can do that is to identify things that are happening around them. Say for example they are walking down the street having a conversation. You can comment on how they pass under a street light or have to cross to the other side of the street because of a barking dog on the sidewalk ahead of them. The main point is to give enough information to allow your readers to picture your characters in whatever they are doing.
If you go back and add some of these things, you need to review it really carefully and make sure they add something of value to the story. If they are just there as filler, your readers are going to recognize that and get annoyed. If your additions paint a better picture, then your readers will be rewarded.
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