Sometimes it's what you don't say

There is a saying familiar to most writers: Show me, don't tell me.
It means the writer shouldn't tell the reader that a character in a story is scared. Rather, the writer should paint a picture of the person cowering in the corner of a room or speaking in trembling voice or backing away from an encounter. If the description is good enough, the reader will figure out the character is scared - and readers like to figure things out - so show them, don't tell them.
A variation of this same principle is expressed through lack of description. There's a great example in Ernest Hemingway's short story, "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber." Macomber is on a hunting trip with his wife and a guide. His wife is behind him when she sees a buffalo start to charge him. She fires her rifle and shoots her husband in the head. The force of the blow knocks him face down on the ground. She and the guide run to the body. What an opportunity this would be for the writer to describe a really gory scene. Instead, Hemingway has the guide tell Mrs. Macomber, "I wouldn't turn him over." What a wonderful line, particularly in all that it doesn't say. Instead, the reader is left to imagine the scene. It is a classic line - and one that we can learn from.