style - Techniques for creating variety in prose

When I write my short stories, I usually end up using a direct style as follows:

Tim remembered the day he had to say goodbye to Cathy. He did not really have a choice. He had to let go of Cathy, for she had no future with him.

"I'll never forget you," that was the last thing Cathy had said as he had pushed her away.

The words had continued to haunt Tim all these years.

Tim picked up his backpack. It was time to move on again. He had just caught a glimpse of Cathy.

My stories usually have flashbacks and dialogues that I use to try to connect seamlessly the past to the present.

Question: Does a direct style like the above appear snappy?

I am after some techniques that I can use to turn a direct style (like the above) into more interesting and captivating prose. Based on an answer below, this is a minimalist style.

Question: Does minimalist style need to be descriptive?

Note: I hate to admit that I really do not see much wrong with the above. Perhaps this is my style of writing and I cannot improve it further. I would be very grateful for more feedback.

Answer

I agree with you. There's nothing wrong with that direct style. I even prefer it over the indirect/complicated one.

I believe this style is called minimalism, the biggest exponents being Hemingway and Raymond Carver.

That being said you can vary your prose and make it more captivating in the following ways:

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  Start the sentence with a verb/action (e.g. Picking up his pack, Tim started moving again).

  
  
  


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  Use metaphors/similes (e.g. The words had continued to haunt Tim all these years, like ghosts lurking in the shadows).

  
  


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  Vary sentence length (e.g. Tim remembered the day he had to say goodbye to Cathy. He did not really have a choice; he had to let go of Cathy. She had no future with him.