Drawing Pictures with Words-Episode 18-Writers Tricks of the Trade

HOLLOW WORDS vs VIBRANT IMAGES ~ DO YOU USE WORDS TO DRAW PICTURES FOR YOUR READERS?

Join us when hosts Morgan St. James, author of 14 books, and Eric James Miller, author and President of Writers of Southern Nevada, discuss one of the key elements in writing fiction---the art of drawing pictures with words using artful, rhythmic prose. "The trick is to also make it simple and direct. This technique of using words to trigger a mental image is a variation of show, don’t tell."

Language that is too sophisticated, complex or gimmicky, or long blocks of flat narrative sometimes called a laundry list, often trigger inattention instead of creating a visual experience.

You might protest that extensive description draws the reader deeper into the story. Unfortunately, it generally works the other way. Why? Because long, occasionally dull passages break the action. They literally freeze the characters in place during a boring dissertation.