Good imaginative writing creates pictures and images for the reader. There are many ways to describe the elements of your story, from the people, the places, the surroundings, the atmosphere and mood. How you choose to bring these elements to life will largely determine how drawn into your story your readers will be.
Words: The Tools For Writers
Just as a sculptor uses clay, an artist paint, or a musician sound, writers use words to create and be creative. A word or a series of words creates for the reader an image, and this image evokes or appeals to one or more of the readers five senses: see, hear, touch, smell, and taste. By appealing to the reader's senses, the writer is able to make their writing vivid and bring it to life.
Words don't always have a literal meaning, sometimes it is enough to imply or suggest. When a reader relates to something that has been described, perhaps from their own experience, they can become further involved in the story.
Show, Don't Tell
The writer can either describe in excruciating detail everything about a character or element of the story, or they can choose to reveal pieces of information, as relevant. When a writer takes the later approach the reader can often become intrigued and interested to know more. It also allows the reader to think and feel and often complete the details themselves. Rather than uses flat descriptions, vivid images that use all our senses allow the reader to perceive a scene or a moment.
Speaking with Confidence
Readers want to feel confident in the author that they are an authority. A writer who is vague or opinionated can make the reader feel uncomfortable and suspicious. If the writer, on the other hand, uses concrete images and sufficient detail to allow the reader to form an image, the reader begins to trust the author and allows him or her to take them into their world.
Try describing a character or object using one sense and then try another. New writers often begin by describing what they see, however it's a good habit to try and alternate between other senses. The variety is often appealing to the reader, and the ability to sense something through another sense other than sight can allow the reader to experience it in a different way.
Consider the difference between describing a piece of fruit by how it looks, then by how it tastes. What about by how it feels? Or how it smells. Each evokes something different in the reader. Such different approaches provides the writer with a wide range of methods to describe elements in their story.
See also Making Your Memoirs Real and Characterisation in Memoirs
 |
