Have you ever read a book and “saw” yourself in the setting? Are the descriptions so vivid that you can smell and feel what the characters are involved with? When I was a small child, some of my best memories were reading stories in which I could “jump in” and be right there – either as one of the characters or tagging along behind them.
Isn’t that why we so like watching television and going to the movies? One minute we’re right in the comfort of a darkened theatre or in our own home, the next, everything else seems to fade away and we are in the story itself! What a mind trick and what a wonderful experience!
Here’s another question – have you ever read a book and then seen the movie based on the book? Are you ever disappointed because what you imagined the characters, setting or scenery to look like was nothing like the screen version?
That’s why I love to read – because all of us have the opportunity to make the characters what we want them to look like and how we want them to be. We can do this with the setting – the lighting, the colors of the room we’re reading about – even if the description is very detailed. Come on now, how many different colors of light blue are there? What I think of as light blue may be very different than what you think of as light blue. Isn’t that magical?
Sometimes I even hate to finish a book because I know I will never “meet” those characters again. I’ll never have the stir of those same emotions as I interact with each of the characters. This is what spurs me on as a writer. I ask myself, what would she or he say to that? Why is this room set up like this? What I see in my mind, I can write on paper. It takes a little practice, but every description gets more precise.
If you’re thinking about becoming a writer, take the time to examine every aspect of your character – down to the smallest detail. Think about every setting you put them in and research what you don’t know. Just writing down the details might lead you to the first steps of your new career. Can you see it?
Isn’t that why we so like watching television and going to the movies? One minute we’re right in the comfort of a darkened theatre or in our own home, the next, everything else seems to fade away and we are in the story itself! What a mind trick and what a wonderful experience!
Here’s another question – have you ever read a book and then seen the movie based on the book? Are you ever disappointed because what you imagined the characters, setting or scenery to look like was nothing like the screen version?
That’s why I love to read – because all of us have the opportunity to make the characters what we want them to look like and how we want them to be. We can do this with the setting – the lighting, the colors of the room we’re reading about – even if the description is very detailed. Come on now, how many different colors of light blue are there? What I think of as light blue may be very different than what you think of as light blue. Isn’t that magical?
Sometimes I even hate to finish a book because I know I will never “meet” those characters again. I’ll never have the stir of those same emotions as I interact with each of the characters. This is what spurs me on as a writer. I ask myself, what would she or he say to that? Why is this room set up like this? What I see in my mind, I can write on paper. It takes a little practice, but every description gets more precise.
If you’re thinking about becoming a writer, take the time to examine every aspect of your character – down to the smallest detail. Think about every setting you put them in and research what you don’t know. Just writing down the details might lead you to the first steps of your new career. Can you see it?
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