I found the section on senses especially interesting in chapter five, as in my current writing project, one of the four perspectives I write from is a third person perspective of a blind monster hunter, which started partially as a challenge to myself with using only four senses to write, as I am often overly reliant on sight. The section on specificity is also something I try and work on, as while many authors I read tend to keep character descriptions vague, I find that details can help characterize individuals in a positive or negative light, or inter-character relationships. If a character describes someone or something in an unflattering light, that could mean more than they dislike the person or are judgmental than objective fact depending on point of view, as discussed in the previous chapter.
Chapter five is all about description. Description is my favorite part of writing. I love coming up with ways to describe what is going on to fully immerse the reader in the story. What I found particularly interesting about this chapter was the part on describing the inner life. For me, describing the physical things comes pretty easily but I sometimes struggle with explaining how a character is feeling without it sounding clunky and way too explicitly said. I think a major part of a good story is not having to explicitly describe someone’s feelings but instead describing what those feelings would look like on them or on the way they are seeing their world at that moment.
The Quote on page 110 from Mark Twain really stuck out to me from this chapter, ultimately telling us that choosing the correct words will be the difference between making your story a work of art or a sample of writing from a beginner. The whole chapter talks about descriptions and how you can use a multitude of them! Therefore choosing the right ones together can make or break not only your story but potentially even the point you are trying to get across. I remember writing in high school for my English class. We had to write a short story and I always knew a similar word to what I wanted to use but always felt like it wasn’t the right form of it and that I could do better. So, whenever I was working on a story I would have a thesaurus open in another tab on my computer, just as it is encouraged to do so in chapter 5. Another point that jumped out to me was the importance of utilizing nouns and verbs more often than adjectives and adverbs. I fully agree with this statement but also liked that we weren’t told to completely stay away from adjectives. There was an example in the Specificity section I believe that showed us that the right placement of an adjective in a soup full of nouns and verbs could bring the whole image to life, really tying everything together. I feel like this chapter emphasizes that it is important to know the different craft elements that go into writing and really thinking about your work in every way you possibly can, will help your story go from being a fire fly to being lightning, as said in the chapter. I know that embracing things like similes and metaphors in a work can be really effective which is highlighted in this chapter but something that was less heard of in my opinion as utilizing lyricism in your writing. Lyricism can help make a section flow better or give a certain effect to a scene which I personally have never used outside of poetry writing.
the most interesting section I found in chapter 5 was about Specificity. I struggle with the difference between being detailed and being specific. I will write in detail but not focus on specific things that are more important. The section gives examples of how to be specific with detail and keep the reader interested. The section also explains what you should and shouldn’t do with being specific. For example its not so important to be specific with little things like exact colors of the crayons being used because its just filler and not important. Being specific about something in the moment that important or will be reoccurring is what keeps the reader interested as their able to memorize the specifics for when it may reoccur later in the story. This will help me with writing and being able to keep the reader drawn into the story.
Chapter 5
– Description should be brought to life using all the five senses, not just sight.
– It’s more effective to be specific in descriptors, as vagueness just separates the reader from the emotions of the characters/setting/subject.
– It’s not interesting but rather something I’ve never exactly seen put into words, where you should use nouns and verbs to portray the scene, then simply supplement with a few adjectives and adverbs.
– Figures of speech are subtle and a sneakier way to influence the image the reader is conjuring.
– Using cliched or overused descriptors may be correct in some situations, but lack effectiveness for the reader who hears and reads those words frequently.
– As a kind of instruction to “show, don’t tell” is the advice that using descriptors of the subjects physical reactions will better display the subject’s emotions, thus employing the reader’s empathy and making them feel closer to the character.
I was quite looking forward to this chapter. I tend to like to paint pictures with my words, and thus I run into a dilemma of over describing, relying too heavily on adverbs, or just not striking a balance of in-depth scene setting and useless detail. This chapter helped clear some of that up for me as it detailed various intricacies to making descriptions work and feel alive. I’ve found that writing with poetic notes in a novel form is write enjoyable and, thus such ways are reinforced and expanded upon in this chapter. I look forward to referring to this chapter in my writing and hope to use my descriptions as a way to tell a story through the scene or setting as opposed to just action and dialogue.
This chapter centered on how to effectively convey a location or scene within your writing. The author reminds us to consider appealing to all the senses and affirms the importance of word choice. I also liked how they mentioned the importance of a well placed simile, but making sure that you avoid cliches when writing them. The section about describing emotions really resonated with me as well. I often struggle to put my character’s feelings into words, especially when it is a complex or nuanced reaction to something. I liked how they explained how to describe things from the perspective of the character experiencing it, not from an outside, less immersed in context, point of view. In my own writing, I’m going to look to describe emotions and feelings without outright stating them and look for places where I can expand the thoughts characters may be having.
Chapter 5 focuses on description, and a tip that I found especially useful was to keep the five senses in mind when wiring descriptions. There is more to description than just sight, and relying on just how things looks will get old fast. I also liked how this chapter warned against using adjectives and adverbs too often. A writer can create a great description without relying on adjectives to do the heavy lifting. Often times, the adjectives and adverbs are there to support the larger description instead of providing it all themselves. I think this chapter also does a good job of once again highlighting show don’t tell when it comes to descriptions of characters inner worlds as well. It’s easy to say “she was mad”, but writing about the physical response she might have to that anger is much more effective.
Chapter 5 of our book was about description. What I really liked and took away from this section was the idea of using words to show the readers what is going on. Instead of telling them the character did this and this and this, you can create more flow within the story. Giving such a vivid understanding of what that character is doing, perceiving, or thinking. The hardest thing for me when it comes to creative writing is the description, I feel as if I have too much or not enough. And being able to see what happens with characters is extremely important to the plot and having your readers care about what happens to the character. Being able to read about how to create these descriptive scenes and how to engage a reader in situations that might not be all action filled is important. This chapter really showed the ideas that are needed to create a story that is so detail rich that you feel as if you are living within the pages of the story.
In chapter five, my favorite element was how relatable I found the narrator. Specifically on page 104 when it read, “She was always the one to point things out, while I remained absorbed in my thoughts. But it seems that even back then I noticed details from my peripheral visioning filed them for later use.” This summed up a lot of what I recognize to be my experience, especially as a writer. I find that there is something so valuable in being quiet sometimes, and letting yourself listen to your thoughts, observing. The real world is such a vast source to draw inspiration from, and I think the author does a job well done of explaining that here, and demonstrating what it can mean to exist as a writer even when away from a paper and a pen or a keyboard. The author then went on to describe the five senses method of writing. This resonated with me because I always try to incorporate all senses into my writing when possible, because it tends to make the reading experience that much more visceral. However, there is a balance when it comes to writing descriptions, which I think the author also demonstrated well. It is hard to avoid getting too heavily in descriptions and overwhelming what else is happening in the story, but it is definitely important to focus on. The importance of description, specifically through how it impacts the reader is highlighted in this chapter.
As someone who’s not very good with imagery and is heavier on metaphors, this chapter really helped me understand how to flesh out imagery to facilitate the reader. I’ve always tried to incorporate the five senses into my writing but it’s so difficult to put yourself in the shoes of your character. What I normally do when writing is I write about what I know, so if I’m writing about two characters in a kitchen, I’ll go to that physical location and jot down what I see, smell, and hear- at the least. But to paint a picture and make a sentence flow well is a completely different story, I feel like I’ve never been able to master that, even when I use transition words. the author of this chapter is right, adjectives and verbs do help, but I’ve found that metaphors always tie sentences together. I’m not one for adjectives, I feel like when I use them it takes away from my own poetic writer’s voice. I want to try and use them more, though. I love the idea that a writer is a collector, as well.
11 thoughts on “JOURNAL # 6”
I found the section on senses especially interesting in chapter five, as in my current writing project, one of the four perspectives I write from is a third person perspective of a blind monster hunter, which started partially as a challenge to myself with using only four senses to write, as I am often overly reliant on sight. The section on specificity is also something I try and work on, as while many authors I read tend to keep character descriptions vague, I find that details can help characterize individuals in a positive or negative light, or inter-character relationships. If a character describes someone or something in an unflattering light, that could mean more than they dislike the person or are judgmental than objective fact depending on point of view, as discussed in the previous chapter.
Chapter five is all about description. Description is my favorite part of writing. I love coming up with ways to describe what is going on to fully immerse the reader in the story. What I found particularly interesting about this chapter was the part on describing the inner life. For me, describing the physical things comes pretty easily but I sometimes struggle with explaining how a character is feeling without it sounding clunky and way too explicitly said. I think a major part of a good story is not having to explicitly describe someone’s feelings but instead describing what those feelings would look like on them or on the way they are seeing their world at that moment.
The Quote on page 110 from Mark Twain really stuck out to me from this chapter, ultimately telling us that choosing the correct words will be the difference between making your story a work of art or a sample of writing from a beginner. The whole chapter talks about descriptions and how you can use a multitude of them! Therefore choosing the right ones together can make or break not only your story but potentially even the point you are trying to get across. I remember writing in high school for my English class. We had to write a short story and I always knew a similar word to what I wanted to use but always felt like it wasn’t the right form of it and that I could do better. So, whenever I was working on a story I would have a thesaurus open in another tab on my computer, just as it is encouraged to do so in chapter 5. Another point that jumped out to me was the importance of utilizing nouns and verbs more often than adjectives and adverbs. I fully agree with this statement but also liked that we weren’t told to completely stay away from adjectives. There was an example in the Specificity section I believe that showed us that the right placement of an adjective in a soup full of nouns and verbs could bring the whole image to life, really tying everything together. I feel like this chapter emphasizes that it is important to know the different craft elements that go into writing and really thinking about your work in every way you possibly can, will help your story go from being a fire fly to being lightning, as said in the chapter. I know that embracing things like similes and metaphors in a work can be really effective which is highlighted in this chapter but something that was less heard of in my opinion as utilizing lyricism in your writing. Lyricism can help make a section flow better or give a certain effect to a scene which I personally have never used outside of poetry writing.
the most interesting section I found in chapter 5 was about Specificity. I struggle with the difference between being detailed and being specific. I will write in detail but not focus on specific things that are more important. The section gives examples of how to be specific with detail and keep the reader interested. The section also explains what you should and shouldn’t do with being specific. For example its not so important to be specific with little things like exact colors of the crayons being used because its just filler and not important. Being specific about something in the moment that important or will be reoccurring is what keeps the reader interested as their able to memorize the specifics for when it may reoccur later in the story. This will help me with writing and being able to keep the reader drawn into the story.
Chapter 5
– Description should be brought to life using all the five senses, not just sight.
– It’s more effective to be specific in descriptors, as vagueness just separates the reader from the emotions of the characters/setting/subject.
– It’s not interesting but rather something I’ve never exactly seen put into words, where you should use nouns and verbs to portray the scene, then simply supplement with a few adjectives and adverbs.
– Figures of speech are subtle and a sneakier way to influence the image the reader is conjuring.
– Using cliched or overused descriptors may be correct in some situations, but lack effectiveness for the reader who hears and reads those words frequently.
– As a kind of instruction to “show, don’t tell” is the advice that using descriptors of the subjects physical reactions will better display the subject’s emotions, thus employing the reader’s empathy and making them feel closer to the character.
I was quite looking forward to this chapter. I tend to like to paint pictures with my words, and thus I run into a dilemma of over describing, relying too heavily on adverbs, or just not striking a balance of in-depth scene setting and useless detail. This chapter helped clear some of that up for me as it detailed various intricacies to making descriptions work and feel alive. I’ve found that writing with poetic notes in a novel form is write enjoyable and, thus such ways are reinforced and expanded upon in this chapter. I look forward to referring to this chapter in my writing and hope to use my descriptions as a way to tell a story through the scene or setting as opposed to just action and dialogue.
This chapter centered on how to effectively convey a location or scene within your writing. The author reminds us to consider appealing to all the senses and affirms the importance of word choice. I also liked how they mentioned the importance of a well placed simile, but making sure that you avoid cliches when writing them. The section about describing emotions really resonated with me as well. I often struggle to put my character’s feelings into words, especially when it is a complex or nuanced reaction to something. I liked how they explained how to describe things from the perspective of the character experiencing it, not from an outside, less immersed in context, point of view. In my own writing, I’m going to look to describe emotions and feelings without outright stating them and look for places where I can expand the thoughts characters may be having.
Chapter 5 focuses on description, and a tip that I found especially useful was to keep the five senses in mind when wiring descriptions. There is more to description than just sight, and relying on just how things looks will get old fast. I also liked how this chapter warned against using adjectives and adverbs too often. A writer can create a great description without relying on adjectives to do the heavy lifting. Often times, the adjectives and adverbs are there to support the larger description instead of providing it all themselves. I think this chapter also does a good job of once again highlighting show don’t tell when it comes to descriptions of characters inner worlds as well. It’s easy to say “she was mad”, but writing about the physical response she might have to that anger is much more effective.
Chapter 5 of our book was about description. What I really liked and took away from this section was the idea of using words to show the readers what is going on. Instead of telling them the character did this and this and this, you can create more flow within the story. Giving such a vivid understanding of what that character is doing, perceiving, or thinking. The hardest thing for me when it comes to creative writing is the description, I feel as if I have too much or not enough. And being able to see what happens with characters is extremely important to the plot and having your readers care about what happens to the character. Being able to read about how to create these descriptive scenes and how to engage a reader in situations that might not be all action filled is important. This chapter really showed the ideas that are needed to create a story that is so detail rich that you feel as if you are living within the pages of the story.
In chapter five, my favorite element was how relatable I found the narrator. Specifically on page 104 when it read, “She was always the one to point things out, while I remained absorbed in my thoughts. But it seems that even back then I noticed details from my peripheral visioning filed them for later use.” This summed up a lot of what I recognize to be my experience, especially as a writer. I find that there is something so valuable in being quiet sometimes, and letting yourself listen to your thoughts, observing. The real world is such a vast source to draw inspiration from, and I think the author does a job well done of explaining that here, and demonstrating what it can mean to exist as a writer even when away from a paper and a pen or a keyboard. The author then went on to describe the five senses method of writing. This resonated with me because I always try to incorporate all senses into my writing when possible, because it tends to make the reading experience that much more visceral. However, there is a balance when it comes to writing descriptions, which I think the author also demonstrated well. It is hard to avoid getting too heavily in descriptions and overwhelming what else is happening in the story, but it is definitely important to focus on. The importance of description, specifically through how it impacts the reader is highlighted in this chapter.
As someone who’s not very good with imagery and is heavier on metaphors, this chapter really helped me understand how to flesh out imagery to facilitate the reader. I’ve always tried to incorporate the five senses into my writing but it’s so difficult to put yourself in the shoes of your character. What I normally do when writing is I write about what I know, so if I’m writing about two characters in a kitchen, I’ll go to that physical location and jot down what I see, smell, and hear- at the least. But to paint a picture and make a sentence flow well is a completely different story, I feel like I’ve never been able to master that, even when I use transition words. the author of this chapter is right, adjectives and verbs do help, but I’ve found that metaphors always tie sentences together. I’m not one for adjectives, I feel like when I use them it takes away from my own poetic writer’s voice. I want to try and use them more, though. I love the idea that a writer is a collector, as well.