Thank you everybody for your replies so far. (Keep them coming if you have anything else to add to this thread. The more the merrier, as far as I say.) It really means a great deal to me to hear from other readers and writers about this, particularly since it is a significant weakness of my writing regardless of what type of writing I am trying to work with. This has been very helpful to me to get a broader perspective rather than trying to think about this on my own and interpret what other people think without having actually asked them first.