Your words are powerful

burn them in the reader’s mind,

imagination

“Picture this…” a friend begins to set a scene in your mind. As you listen, they build up the setting. Just enough detail to set it up and emphasize the bits that support their reason for telling you the story. Done right, you feel like you were there.

Too much detail and you want to interrupt or start to mentally drift away. Not enough detail and you are confused and don’t understand why you are being subjected to this diatribe. Keeping a conversation going without monopolizing it is a delicate balance.

Where we are, what is happening in the surroundings, who is there are all important components of capturing your audience. Failing that, our writing will fail as they turn to anything but your message.

The advice so oft repeated is to show not tell. But I think we need to go deeper. A writer doesn’t just show, but lures. Place the audience so firmly in the writing that they are neither tempted nor interested in setting it down. Capture their imagination and place them firmly in the world.

Can your story telling insulate the reader from their actual surroundings? We’ve all seen videos of folks staring so intently at their cell phone that they walk into someone or something else (like a fountain). But how is that accomplished?

Think of the five senses. What does this situation involve? Hearing, seeing, feeling, scent, and/or taste. Certainly not every sense might have to be used, but consider all of them. Underscoring all of it is the central question: why is this important? Another way to put it is, what do you want the reader/listener to come away with?

All of your details should be like spotlights pointing to your main idea. This will point your reader/listener to your intended conclusion. A warning, do not spoon feed your audience. Give them the highlights, but let them fill in some blank spots. Give them a bit of mystery to solve, let them think. Just as shadows help give definition to a face, there should be some room for the audience to participate in the understanding.

See you soon at Vintage & Modern Books – 415 6th Street, Racine.

—Christy Hoff

ArtRoot Writer-in-Residence