![]() If you get a kick out of it while he is jumping, remember back until you see exactly what the action was that gave you that emotion. If we get into a fish see exactly what it is that everyone does. Pay close attention to everything that is happening and the emotions that you experience. Pretend you’re an artist heading out with your sketchbook to capture what you see and feel. ![]() For you, it might be an event that happens when you’re commuting to work or shopping at a store or eating at a restaurant or playing with your kids. In this video, I detailed the three-step writing exercise Hemingway gave Samuelson.Įssentially, Hemingway challenged Samuelson to pick a situation to observe and then try to retell it on the page. Hemingway ended up inviting Samuelson along on a fishing trip and sharing writing advice during their time at sea. In the 1930s, a 22-year-old aspiring writer named Arnold Samuelson traveled to Florida to see if he could get some writing advice from the author he idolized: Ernest Hemingway. The Ernest Hemingway Exercise for Sharpening Your Observational Skills ![]() In my article here, I share three descriptive techniques that you can use to replace weak adjectives with more evocative words. Is there a more vivid way you could describe the snow? Perhaps with a metaphor or a simile that makes us feel as if we are seeing the snow for the first time? Or maybe the snow isn’t even white anymore but brown and muddy. Try to replace them with vivid description.Īdditionally, see if there are any places in your writing where you’ve described something with an adjective that is already understood in the noun, for example, “white snow.” Obviously, we all know that snow is white so the adjective is redundant. Look for places where you describe something using only adjectives like “wonderful” or “terrible”. Here’s how to turn this into a writing exercise: Choose a final draft of a recent writing project or a draft you’re currently working on. You see, all those words (horrifying, wonderful, hideous, exquisite) are only like saying to your readers, “Please will you do my job for me.” Don’t say it was “delightful” make us say “delightful” when we’ve read the description. I mean, instead of telling us a thing was “terrible,” describe it so that we’ll be terrified. The fourth rule in his letter makes for an excellent writing exercise:ĭon’t use adjectives which merely tell us how you want us to feel about the thing you are describing. You can read more about that letter in my article here and discover all five of Lewis’s writing rules. Lewis replied to a letter from a young fan and shared his five rules for writing well. Lewis Exercise for Writing Vivid Description In today’s post, I’m sharing five powerful creative writing exercises from famous authors that will help you practice those essential skills and many more. Just like those other artists, writers can sharpen specific skills through deliberate practice.Īre you struggling to write vivid descriptions? Or craft concise sentences? Dancers will practice a dance move countless times until their footwork and technique are flawless. Artists might sketch a hundred human hands until they’ve mastered drawing that body part realistically. Pianists practice scales to strengthen their skills like rhythm and timing.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |