How creative! Thank you for this opportunity April.
My article:
Title: Use Your Senses
As a writer, your job is to engage the reader into the world you have created, and keep them entertained. Words are your tools, so use them to build images in your reader’s mind.
The way to create an image (in your reader’s mind) is to use the five physical senses – sight, touch, taste, sound and smell. Depending on what genre you are writing, you can even use the sixth sense.
Take sound, for instance, if you hear the screech of car brakes and metal smashing into metal, you don’t think, “Oh my god, an accident” in words. An image of an accident springs to mind instead, and you relate the image to the feelings of pain, distress, fear, dying etc.
You could flesh this out further with images of someone in a wheel chair, sympathy, crying and, or a funeral.
So instead of saying, “they were distressed” or “it was a sad situation”, tell the reader about the the smell of blood, people screaming, the confusion, the shock, the stillness of a body or bodies, the mangled vehicles etc. In short, show instead of telling.
Using sensory details can assist with setting a mood; evoke feelings and trigger emotion for your readers making them feel as if they are right there, in that very scene and in that moment.
Writing this way further gives your writing rhythm and pace making it engaging.
© 2009 Cherry-Ann Carew
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE, NEWSLETTER, MAGAZINE OR WEBSITE? Please do, but ensure you include this complete resource box with it: Cherry-Ann Carew is The Power Write Coach and Editor of Writetastic Solutions. Learn how her coaching and editing services can help you become a published author at www.writetasticsolutions.c
About the Author:
Cherry-Ann Carew ‘The Power Writing Coach and editor’ is a well-honed writer, writing coach, developmental editor and copyeditor, with over fifteen years experience in professional writing for various magazines, newspaper publications and online content.
She worked as sports journalist for one of England’s leading newspapers, The Voice, and as an editor for ‘BlaqSport Publishers,’ a national sports journal—now defunct— in the United Kingdom before immigrating to the United States. Since then, she has coached, edited, proofread, re-written and ghostwritten hundreds of works from resumes to novels to memoirs for clients globally.
Cherry-Ann works with clients across the board, i.e. established and non-established writers. However, she especially likes helping novices fuel their creative expression to add value to their books.
Cherry-Ann is also the author of a novel that will be published by INDI Publishers in the summer of 2010. She is, further, a contributor to an anthology titled: ‘How the Fierce Handle Fear’ - Secrets to Succeeding in Challenging Times, that include notable and bestselling authors and entrepreneurs Donald Trump, and Jack Canfield (co-author of Chicken Soup for the Soul) that will also be published in the spring of 2010.
In addition, Cherry-Ann is writing a non-fiction book titled ‘Cook Up’ and a series of e-books under the umbrella title: In Layman Terms – A Guide for Aspiring Writers.
You can view useful articles and writing tips on her Pitching Views blog: http://writetasticsolution
tweet her at: http://twitter.com/CherryA
connect on Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in
connect on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ch
View her websites at: http://www.writetasticsolu
and
http://www.cherryanncarew.
Contact her at: info@writetasticsolutions.
Tel: 1+949 231 0858
My article:
Title: Use Your Senses
As a writer, your job is to engage the reader into the world you have created, and keep them entertained. Words are your tools, so use them to build images in your reader’s mind.
The way to create an image (in your reader’s mind) is to use the five physical senses – sight, touch, taste, sound and smell. Depending on what genre you are writing, you can even use the sixth sense.
Take sound, for instance, if you hear the screech of car brakes and metal smashing into metal, you don’t think, “Oh my god, an accident” in words. An image of an accident springs to mind instead, and you relate the image to the feelings of pain, distress, fear, dying etc.
You could flesh this out further with images of someone in a wheel chair, sympathy, crying and, or a funeral.
So instead of saying, “they were distressed” or “it was a sad situation”, tell the reader about the the smell of blood, people screaming, the confusion, the shock, the stillness of a body or bodies, the mangled vehicles etc. In short, show instead of telling.
Using sensory details can assist with setting a mood; evoke feelings and trigger emotion for your readers making them feel as if they are right there, in that very scene and in that moment.
Writing this way further gives your writing rhythm and pace making it engaging.
© 2009 Cherry-Ann Carew
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE, NEWSLETTER, MAGAZINE OR WEBSITE? Please do, but ensure you include this complete resource box with it: Cherry-Ann Carew is The Power Write Coach and Editor of Writetastic Solutions. Learn how her coaching and editing services can help you become a published author at www.writetasticsolutions.c
About the Author:
Cherry-Ann Carew ‘The Power Writing Coach and editor’ is a well-honed writer, writing coach, developmental editor and copyeditor, with over fifteen years experience in professional writing for various magazines, newspaper publications and online content.
She worked as sports journalist for one of England’s leading newspapers, The Voice, and as an editor for ‘BlaqSport Publishers,’ a national sports journal—now defunct— in the United Kingdom before immigrating to the United States. Since then, she has coached, edited, proofread, re-written and ghostwritten hundreds of works from resumes to novels to memoirs for clients globally.
Cherry-Ann works with clients across the board, i.e. established and non-established writers. However, she especially likes helping novices fuel their creative expression to add value to their books.
Cherry-Ann is also the author of a novel that will be published by INDI Publishers in the summer of 2010. She is, further, a contributor to an anthology titled: ‘How the Fierce Handle Fear’ - Secrets to Succeeding in Challenging Times, that include notable and bestselling authors and entrepreneurs Donald Trump, and Jack Canfield (co-author of Chicken Soup for the Soul) that will also be published in the spring of 2010.
In addition, Cherry-Ann is writing a non-fiction book titled ‘Cook Up’ and a series of e-books under the umbrella title: In Layman Terms – A Guide for Aspiring Writers.
You can view useful articles and writing tips on her Pitching Views blog: http://writetasticsolution
tweet her at: http://twitter.com/CherryA
connect on Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in
connect on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ch
View her websites at: http://www.writetasticsolu
and
http://www.cherryanncarew.
Contact her at: info@writetasticsolutions.
Tel: 1+949 231 0858
April:
Again, thanks for the opportunity to share this at the Red River Writers Blog Tour.
I hope your readers find the article useful.
Much appreciated and keep up the great work;)
Posted by: Cherry-Ann Carew | February 04, 2010 at 07:36 PM
Sage advice all writers should follow.
Posted by: Afstewartblog.blogspot.com | February 05, 2010 at 08:09 AM