Coloring in the details…

It has been a while since I’ve written one of my “visual” writing posts.

If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, you can go HERE and HERE to check out earlier “visual based” writing/craft posts I’ve made.

You’re probably wondering why I’m focusing on “the visual” when it comes to doing a post on writing, especially since writing, is well, just that–the written word. Everyone learns differently and one thing I’ve discovered about myself is that I pick up things faster if I can see a visual representation along with the explanation. I don’t know why that is, but it just sticks in my mind better.

Today’s post is about bringing your writing to life, coloring in those details in such a way so that readers can “picture” or “feel” the scene.

Check out this picture below..

It’s a neat picture, right? Nice color. It has cool composition with the sun only hitting the tops of the trees, lighting them on fire while the tree trunks remain shrouded in dark shadows. Like it? Yeah, me too…LOL…since I took it.

But ya know, once I downloaded this picture to my computer screen, I was disappointed. Why? Because the colors looked washed out and dull compared to what I had seen while I was happily snapping away with my digital camera. What I saw was flashes of fire in the leaves, like nature had lit them ablaze. I loved the vivid stormy blue sky behind those fiery leaves and how it set such a stark and breathtaking contrast!

So what did I do once I downloaded it to my computer?

I went in and put the color back in…the way I’d “seen” in through the camera’s viewfinder.

And here is the result.

And what in the WORLD does ALL this have to do with writing, you ask…

Okay, here’s how you can apply this to writing.

Once you’ve written your scene, step back and read it. Think about the two pictures above. Think about how you reacted to each one. Consider how the first one was a fairly good picture all on its own, well, until you saw the next one. LOL!

The point is…you wrote a good scene. Now go back and make it better. Make it POP!

How do you do that?

If it’s an emotional scene, then take your characters’ emotions deeper. Really dig into your main characters’ internal conflicts and how that particular scene effects or changes the character’s perspective on things. Get in there and make the reader “feel” what the character does. Use those five senses, too!

If it’s a fight scene or an action scene, beyond the actual hand to hand “fight” actions or playing out of the action scene, make sure that you’ve done a thorough job employing the five senses here as well. I’m sure you’ve already shown us what your character sees, but what does your character hear? What does he/she smell? What does he/she feel?

Going back and adding in these additional layers will help make your scenes come alive, giving them that “extra” memorable impact and painting a vivid picture for your readers.