Robin,
The sketching vs. painting description was mine, not Ward's, and was probably a poor choice of words. The jist of what Grafton told Ward (I think) was that she did not need to describe every single action and emotion, and to write tightly, without wasting words.

Although I do agree with you that the etch-a-sketch writing has led to a lot of sloppy shorthand that leaves books stranded in terms of characterization and depth.