Painting Pictures

    I love to write books. In fact, I can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t love to write. I even attempted to write books before I knew that the space-bar existed. One of the things I enjoy most is what my mom calls “painting pictures” with my words. I love to write about the beautiful golden leaves that rustle in the fall breeze, and the sparkling snow that glimmers in the wintertime frost. But, how do you write a well-structured sentence that is descriptive, that employs interesting word choice, and, most importantly, intrigues the reader and compels them continue reading?

In order to write a descriptive sentence, you must first sit quietly and picture the scene in your mind. See the lush, rolling hills and the trickling, crystal stream, and tell your reader exactly what you are imagining. Now, remember that, although you can see this picture clearly in your mind, your reader cannot. The reader relies on you to describe precisely what you are seeing and what they are supposed to see. This is difficult, because you do not simply want to say “she had brown hair” or “she was 5’7.” You need to say things such as “she effortlessly pulled her silky, brown hair up into a ponytail” or “though she stood around 5’7, she felt quite delicate standing near the monstrous man beside her,” otherwise you will not capture your reader’s attention.

How do you use interesting words when describing a scene? I often use the thesaurus; however, there are other ways of finding words. Friends and family can be immensely helpful when attempting to think up a word to use. Gaining other’s opinions when writing is one of the most useful things in all of the writing world because they each have their own imagination as well. Also, remember to keep the words you’re using age-appropriate for the people you are hoping to reach. When writing a book for a ten-year-old, you don’t want to use words like “sublime” when trying to say that something is “beautiful.”

How do you keep the reader interested? Books can continue for hundreds and hundreds of pages, so how on earth are you supposed to keep them reading? Make it exciting. When the story starts to droop and wilt, and things begin to become boring, you have something exciting happen. A war breaks out, people’s lives are at stake, people who used to be best friends are at each other’s throats, the main character’s homework was completely burnt to a crisp by his little brother, or, when going to the absolute extreme, somebody dies. Even in these circumstances you want to try your absolute best to be descriptive. What are they wearing? How’s their hair? How does the older brother deal with the fact that his little brother destroyed the homework he spent all night writing? Are the wounds your main character acquired in battle fatal? Though it may seem absolutely disgusting, you may even have to go into a little bit of description of the wound itself (I advise not going into too much detail in this area, we don’t want your readers fainting).

Well-structured, interesting sentences are difficult to write and never come easily. But, as the saying goes, “practice makes perfect.” The more you write, the more likely you are to become familiar with your writing styles and techniques, and to create new ones. Writing isn’t, and never will be simple, but the harder you work at it the better you’ll be. Using these techniques, I have improved my own writing. I will always love to write books, and it is something that I know I will always do.