Clarion Call to All Writers: Be Specific!

    Be specific!
    That’s the clarion call to all creative writers as you pull your readers into your fictive dream. That’s the reason description is an art form.         
    Description is simply a portrayal, in words, of something that can be perceived by the senses. Each time you use a word or phrase to describe a person, a setting or any other aspect of writing, it must be clear, concise and straight to the point of the situation.
    As a writer, you are painting a word picture so the reader "sees" exactly what you are describing. It vividly portrays a person, place, or thing in such a way that the reader can visualize the topic and enter into the writer’s experience or the fictive dream.
    Descriptive Goals as you Write:
        ***Writer’s create descriptions by using images with elaborate use of sensory language: Sight, sound, taste, feel, etc.  It must be vivid.
       ***Writer’s use figurative language such as simile, hyperbole, metaphor, symbolism and personification.
        ***Writer’s use “Show, Don’t Tell” through the use of active Verbs and creative adjectives. When a writer really wants to go in depth in a scene he will use “show” and the mental movie rolls in the reader’s mind. When the writer wants to get a quick point or speed up a scene he will use “tell” in the scene.
      Thoughts on Descriptive Writing:
      •        Make writing more concrete or vivid
      •        Add specific information
       •        Show sensory images
       •        Make comparisons
       •        Use dialogue
       •        Make writing more interesting
       •        Make characters come alive           
        Descriptive Writing Exercises:    
       Note: Keep a Descriptive Journal where you keep all your writing exercises. This will be a fantastic future reference to see  your improvement as a writer.
       1.     Observe and then describe an event.
       2.     Walk outside your apartment or house and describe it in two ways:
                a.      Tell: Write a bare-bone version of the walk with few descriptions.
               b.     Show:  Write a full-blown description of your walk with many descriptions: Use adjectives, descriptive phrases, metaphors, similes, etc.
              c.     Read each version out loud: You will see which version put the reader into the scene.
       3.     Reflect on a person or object that stands out in your memory. Write a description of the person/object.
       4.     Take a photograph, for example, and then describe the person, setting with the bare-bone approach and then the full-blown approach.Email me with an example you created from one of these writing exercise: jtbookevents.yahoo.com Happy Writing!