By Laura Drake
Isn't it weird, where you find the ideas for blogs? I never miss
Gene Lempp's Blog Treasures (and you shouldn't either)!
This week, I found another gem there:
Catie Rhodes' Writing Lessons from Song Lyrics. Go check it out - she has a wonderful point - writers can learn a lot from lyrics. A lyricist only has a few words to paint a powerful picture. I find that shorter descriptions, well written, have more power. The most powerful descriptions are more than explanations of what something looks like, or feels like -- it can be both. What if you combine a description with how the character
feels about the object?
Have you ever been reading a book, and been stopped still by a description that made you put down the book and think, "Wow, that's
just how that feels!
I want to write that, more often. But how?
Not to be a Margie-pimp, but
Margie Lawson's Empowering Character's Emotions taught me the mechanics. After that, I just played. I sometimes close my eyes while I type, trying to find the elusive words to capture the
feeling.
Somtimes, the stars align, and I open my eyes to a sparkly, perfect description. I
love doing that.
I'll swallow my nerves and share one of mine:
Fingers stole up the back of her neck, into her hair. He absently fisted it in his hand, and in that familiar tug, her world settled. Jimmy was home.
Here are some examples by authors much who are more accomplished at this than I.
“Music could ache and hurt, that beautiful music was a place a suffering man could hide.”
―
Pat Conroy,
Beach Music
“Her laughter was a shiny thing, like pewter flung high in the air.”
―
Pat Conroy,
Beach Music
“Walking the streets of Charleston in the late afternoons of August was like walking through gauze or inhaling damaged silk.”
―
Pat Conroy
“It enclosed us in its laceries as we watched the moon spill across the Atlantic like wine from an overturned glass.”
―
Pat Conroy,
Beach Music
“When you love someone, you say their name different. Like it's safe inside your mouth.”
―
Jodi Picoult,
Handle with Care
"There's a storm coming;
his storm." -
Stephen King,
The Stand.
"God is cruel, sometimes he makes you live." –
Stephen King,
Desperation
Okay, it's your turn. Share your favorite descriptions with us - yours or another authors.
Scatter diamonds for others to find!
Laura