Yesterday, I attended the Writers’ Fest sponsored by the Colorado Author’s League and the Denver Woman’s Press Club. It was held at the Tattered Cover bookstore in Denver. I enjoyed networking with other writers and listening to a variety of speakers. One of the speakers, Michael Henry, of the Lighthouse Writers Workshop, titled his talk “Writing the Image: Using Details to Make your Writing Vivid and Memorable.”
Henry explained that people experience life on a sensory level. Seventy five percent of the human brain is used to process information coming from our physical senses, so we naturally respond well to imagery. By studying details and writing about them we’re able to discover ourselves and what we’re writing about better and we create discovery for the reader as well.
He recommends writers take their time and think about details, allowing their own unique perspective to provide a fresh element that will engage readers. The trick is to be particular about the details we choose to highlight; they need to tell the story. The two primary reasons to use details are to portray a character and to move the plot ahead. A secondary reason for the use of details is to hook the reader into reading more.
Henry gave the audience an opportunity to utilize details in characterization by giving us an exercise. He had us write a statement about a fictitious character. Here is my creation.
Accessorizing is not about practicality as much as it is about revealing your identity.
The next step was to write two sentences about this same character using the five senses. I came up with this.
With the refreshing flavor of mint toothpaste still tingling on her lips, she snapped open her jewelry box and selected iridescent abalone shells for her ears. She slipped the cool metal of her silver necklace against her skin and sprayed a waft of citrus perfume at each wrist.
“It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another.” Ernest Hemingway
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