ESSEN TIAL S OF THE C RA FT

Word

Pictures
The best descriptions offer just the right amount of sensory
detail while enticing readers to imagine the rest.
Use these 5 tips to strike the right balance.

BY BARBARA BAIG

W
hen we ill our sentences with the
vocabulary of the senses, we are forming
verbal images. hat is, we are making
word pictures that communicate to
readers the pictures in our own imaginations. Rather
than talking about what it is we want to show our
readers, we give them the sensory details and let those
details act on their imaginations.
Great writers are masters in the crat of making
verbal images. hey are experts at choosing, from all
the details their imaginations provide, exactly the right
pieces to convey the speciic sensory pictures they want
to paint for readers. In constructing verbal images, as
with every other aspect of the crat, writers need to
learn how to make informed choices. One such choice
is determining the length of these images. Should
the image created here, in this place in the piece, be a
short one—just a few words—or a long one—an entire
paragraph, or even two or three? he decisions writers
make when implementing verbal images can help them
deine their particular style.
Another important consideration is how vivid we
want a particular word picture to appear. How many
sensory details should be included, and which ones will
fashion the right mental photograph we’re trying to con-
vey? When you read, pay attention to the use of sensory
details. You may notice how writers difer a great deal in
the amount of speciic description provided to readers.
As writers, we must decide the degree to which we want
to force readers to see mental pictures of a character,

12 I WRITER’S WORKBOOK I 2016