Thursday, May 27, 2010

Set Your Writing Apart

Set your writing apart from the others. Wow your readers with the obscure, eclectic look. Don’t let any of your writing become stagnant to the reader’s eye. Let your reader view something real, tangible and inviting.

Instead of pummeling your story along, slow down and let the reader get a whiff of your senses. Let them feel your anguish or joy, the softness or roughness of its outer core, or clarity of taste and smell. Describe the object or scene, delving into all the senses: sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. Don’t spare your gifts of the word in carving into detail this object, no matter how simple or complex it is.

Practice your craft with an ordinary object, a living organism or a man-made tech machine. If you’re facing a dull read of your story, this could spark up the drab and let in a little bit of light. Plain and simple stories, such as - boy meets girl, boy gets girl, they get into a fight and she leaves him (or vice versa), then they make up and end of story – can be given a second chance when a description of objects, scenes or people here and there bring them to life.

Start with sight—describe the texture, shape, colors, and clarity with metaphors or similes. Next, add hearing—do you hear anything associated with the object? If not, you can skip this sense. Touch the object, rubbing your hands along it if you can, and write down what you feel. Now, smell it—what do you smell? If you smell anything, even a chemical smell, write it down. Last of all is taste. You may not be able to taste it, but if you can, do not hesitate to show the comparison against another similar taste.

Now, combine some of these sentences to spare no workouts of the mind. Like going to a symphony or a Broadway musical, isn’t it? The reader will get caught up in this object which has now taken shape into their soul, and now cannot put the story down. They must read on. . . .