6. Pics and Tips
Here, you'll find a range of pictures you could practice with and some final top-tips for more advanced writers...
Here, you'll find a range of pictures you could practice with and some final top-tips for more advanced writers...
Two Top Tips for Advanced Writers
Two Top Tips for Advanced Writers
Tip Number 1: Ask yourself: What is it really?
Tip Number 1: Ask yourself: What is it really?
When you describe something, you're trying to use words to bring it to life. You can do this quite directly by using personification or suggest a deeper existence using a metaphor or a simile. One other thing I've always liked though, is to take a moment to just appreciate something.
When you describe something, you're trying to use words to bring it to life. You can do this quite directly by using personification or suggest a deeper existence using a metaphor or a simile. One other thing I've always liked though, is to take a moment to just appreciate something.
For example, a mountain isn't just a big slab of rock, it's a scar on the face of our planet that comes when two tectonic plates collide. Mountains are AMAZING. The Himalayas are about 250million years old - which means that humans have only existed for 0.08% of the time that those mountains have been around for. They've seen everything pass before them and remain as stoic and unchanged as ever.
For example, a mountain isn't just a big slab of rock, it's a scar on the face of our planet that comes when two tectonic plates collide. Mountains are AMAZING. The Himalayas are about 250million years old - which means that humans have only existed for 0.08% of the time that those mountains have been around for. They've seen everything pass before them and remain as stoic and unchanged as ever.
Sometimes, in a piece of description it's nice to take a moment to appreciate this, such as in the examples below...
Sometimes, in a piece of description it's nice to take a moment to appreciate this, such as in the examples below...
I looked at that wall, and for a moment I appreciated something real about the passing of time: what had that wall seen since its first bricks were laid? The foundations of it would have been put down just as Napoleon was marching out against the Russians, or perhaps while Nelson was breathing his last, on the deck of the HMS Victory at Waterloo. And since then, that simple stone structure, would have seen the rise and fall of the English Empire; would have lived through slavery and then its abolition; it would have seen Queen Victoria born and then die, while fashions changed and technology grew. That wall would have survived the two world wars; seen the liberation of women, and the enslavement of us all to the social media feeds that have set their roots into us. That simple structure: brick, cement and a cover of moss and lichen, that will probably still be standing when I'm six feet under as well.
I looked at that wall, and for a moment I appreciated something real about the passing of time: what had that wall seen since its first bricks were laid? The foundations of it would have been put down just as Napoleon was marching out against the Russians, or perhaps while Nelson was breathing his last, on the deck of the HMS Victory at Waterloo. And since then, that simple stone structure, would have seen the rise and fall of the English Empire; would have lived through slavery and then its abolition; it would have seen Queen Victoria born and then die, while fashions changed and technology grew. That wall would have survived the two world wars; seen the liberation of women, and the enslavement of us all to the social media feeds that have set their roots into us. That simple structure: brick, cement and a cover of moss and lichen, that will probably still be standing when I'm six feet under as well.
What this strategy really allows you to do is to take a break from writing about the thing itself, and spend a moment - with your reader - appreciating it. It will also allow you to bring your knowledge of other subjects into play, and it'll give you a LOT to write about. After all, everything is special if you look at it though the right eyes. Your challenge, sometimes, is to find those eyes...
What this strategy really allows you to do is to take a break from writing about the thing itself, and spend a moment - with your reader - appreciating it. It will also allow you to bring your knowledge of other subjects into play, and it'll give you a LOT to write about. After all, everything is special if you look at it though the right eyes. Your challenge, sometimes, is to find those eyes...
Tip Number 1: Extend your techniques...
Tip Number 1: Extend your techniques...
You've probably done a lot of work on similes, metaphors and personification before, which is great. But sometimes, especially for description, it's good to get a technique and really run with it. Don't just say that the trees stood like soldiers, give them ranks - generals, privates, sergeants - and give them an enemy that they stand against - the bruising wind and wild rain - and then give yourself a good paragraph to explore a whole new story.
You've probably done a lot of work on similes, metaphors and personification before, which is great. But sometimes, especially for description, it's good to get a technique and really run with it. Don't just say that the trees stood like soldiers, give them ranks - generals, privates, sergeants - and give them an enemy that they stand against - the bruising wind and wild rain - and then give yourself a good paragraph to explore a whole new story.
There's an example below - where I turn two birds singing into some kind of an opera...
There's an example below - where I turn two birds singing into some kind of an opera...
In the tree's branches two birds could be heard calling to each other; singing their conversations like in an opera. And what an opera it was! Soft and melodic like the woodwinds when it wanted to be, yet sharp and direct like the dramatic violin chorus when the talk took a turn, and loud a pompous like the brass while the male was musically beating his chest.
In the tree's branches two birds could be heard calling to each other; singing their conversations like in an opera. And what an opera it was! Soft and melodic like the woodwinds when it wanted to be, yet sharp and direct like the dramatic violin chorus when the talk took a turn, and loud a pompous like the brass while the male was musically beating his chest.
And then later, in the same story:
And then later, in the same story:
The Birds' opera became a melancholic tragedy, while the two creatures cried over their fallen Lord, yet remembered only her care and love and devotion.
The Birds' opera became a melancholic tragedy, while the two creatures cried over their fallen Lord, yet remembered only her care and love and devotion.
The second example there contains another useful pointer: if you can introduce something at the beginning, why not return to it at the end? This will help give you something to target when you're running out of ideas towards the end, and, most importantly, it creates a satisfying conclusion to a piece of writing.
The second example there contains another useful pointer: if you can introduce something at the beginning, why not return to it at the end? This will help give you something to target when you're running out of ideas towards the end, and, most importantly, it creates a satisfying conclusion to a piece of writing.
If you feel like you've got the hang of description - or you just don't fancy writing about the same thing over and over again - then it's probably time to turn your hand to a story.
If you feel like you've got the hang of description - or you just don't fancy writing about the same thing over and over again - then it's probably time to turn your hand to a story.
Simply CLICK HERE and get ready to level up!
Simply CLICK HERE and get ready to level up!