This blog posts on Mondays. Second Mondays of the month I devote to my writing workshop students and anyone else interested in creative writing. Welcome!
> For the archive of workshop posts click here.
The next time you find yourself in mid-conversation and about to whip out your smartphone to show something— your puppy, your nephew’s tattoo, the view from your hotel room—leave the danged thing off and instead find the words to paint the picture vividly for your listener.
Why, goodness yes, this old-fashioned technique does burn a bit o’ glucose.
When you constantly rely on the smartphone to show things, rather than describe them with words as, lo, only a decade ago, before the advent of smombiedom, people used to do, you may find that your verbal descriptive abilities tend to atrophy. For this reason— and for others—for writers, smartphones can be wicked dangerous.
Herewith, a few 5 minute description writing exercises:
“Clutter”
Clutter can tell you a lot about a character. What exactly is it? And where is it? What is it blocking / obscuring? Describe the clutter of:
~ a bereaved widow who, 20 years after her husband’s death, cannot bring herself to go on a date
~ a doctoral student unable to complete his thesis
~ a yoga instructor who is addicted to Instagram
~ a chef who suffers from adult onset diabetes
“Barrel, Mirror, Telephone”
In three sentences or less describe the barrel. In three sentences or less describe the mirror. Where is the telephone? Describe what happens.
“Foyer”
Make a brief list of adjectives and nouns to describe each the following foyers:
~of an elderly society lady;
~of a college football player;
~of a convention center;
~of a funky city bookstore specializing in poetry;
~of a model condominium unit being marketed to hipsters.
For more exercises on writing descriptions, have a look at “Giant Golden Buddha” & 364 More Five Minute Writing Exercises, all free, right here.
I welcome your courteous comments which, should you feel so moved, you can email to me here.
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