Blue
Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal
Le Guin is an amazing author, but like many authors she gives advice from the perspective of what has worked best for her. That is probably impossible to completely avoid, in fact.
Sometimes “more words” can elevate a work, without being strictly necessary to tell the story. We don’t have to know about the lay of the land in the shire to know that it’s idyllic and rustic, JRRT could just say that it is, but it’s a better work for his loving descriptions of the place.
Many great authors use eloquent prose to accomplish *more* than telling the story, and readers are richer for it.
I once read that well crafted prose is finding the perfect word, and well crafted poetry is finding the perfect word and putting it in the perfect place.
I don't see Ursula K. LeGuin's advice as one that one should write as briefly as possible - it's that one should trim any extra after one has given everything needed. Concise and sparse are two different concepts.
To give an example, look at Patrick Rothus. His well polished chapter openings show you can be evocative without having extra - even his duplication of phrases is not extra but reinforcement of theme.