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My post last week on how much detail to include in scenes of intimacy drew some interesting comments. I received a couple of comments, the first of which made me think. That comment was about something I have never thought about writing. It was about sexual abuse and asked what the “minimum” of details do you need to include, so the reader understands what has happened? The reader was questioning how I’d handle a father abusing a daughter. My reaction and I don’t know if it is the correct one, is you would want to have the reader understand how damaging that act was to the young girl. Let’s make Sue a child in this illustration. “Her father came into her bedroom and pulled down her underwear, leaving Sue confused, hurt, and frightened.” I don’t think you should describe what Sue’s father did to her. The vital thing for the reader to understand is the impact on Sue. It is going to have an emotional impact on her for the rest of her life. I also think that detailing what the father did is best left up to the reader’s imagination. What do you think of my solution?