Using Imagery to Build Your Story
Your imagination is the most powerful tool to tell your story. It is the fuel needed to power your writing. No great writer lacks imagination. The ability to communicate that imagination through writing is a craft that can take a lifetime. It is a worthy goal to pursue. It is THE goal of every writer who wishes for their readers to be enriched by their words to learn how to share their thoughts/imagination successfully.
The technique of writing can be quickly learned. How to put words together coherently is a simple matter of learning and using sentence structure, along with basic vocabulary. If this is all you do, it is likely your words will lack power, and not accomplish the goal you intend. Words used well convey emotion, shared ideas, and the ability to build the picture in the mind and the heart of the reader of what you intend for the words to evoke. Writing technically well, without the ability to fuel that writing with your imagination, will generally create a form of a textbook style of writing, which has its place, but is usually not the goal of anyone writing outside of academia.
Word imagery draws the reader in and allows them to ‘listen and view’ your imagination. You as the story teller share your mental adventure through the words that are written. The reason writers like J.K. Rowling and J.R.R. Tolkien are so successful is they are able to take us along for the ride as they live out their imagination through the written word. Both of these writers are technically proficient. It is important to know how to technically write. Nothing is worse than reading a story and finding all kinds of technical issues with it. Poor grammar and sentence structure along with spelling errors have ruined many a story for me.
Is it possible to learn how to communicate your imagination, or does it require some special knack?
It is completely possible to learn this. There are definitely writers that are very gifted with crafting vivid words. They have a large vocabulary and know how to use language well. Others can learn this for themselves and be very successful at sharing their imagination with their readers. Below find some ideas to help you think through what would work best for you to accomplish this goal.
- Build your vocabulary. Make sure you know what the word is, and what it actually means for current common use, and historical definition. This means using both the Urban Dictionary, and a good solid regular dictionary.
- Determine words that are light weight vs. heavy weight with regard to impact. An example of this would by synonym use. Walk vs. stroll or jaunt are a good idea of this. There is nothing wrong with any of those words, and in some contexts each would be excellent choices, but walk is very generic, whereas stroll or jaunt gives a completely different mental image and has more power.
- Think through what impacts you and creates a great mental image as you read other’s words.
- Keep a word journal.
- Keep a story/imagination journal.
- Take basic things in every day life, and practice writing about it. Change the words in different iterations and learn to craft your story to maximize the imagery and expand the imaginative use of those words.
- Above all try and write every day. Writing is genuinely a craft that needs to be practiced.
Whether you want to write to be published and paid, or write to share stories with your kids, family, or a small group, if writing is a part of your heart and soul, learn to write well. Learn to share your imagination with others so that they feel what you felt when you imagined it. Don’t be afraid to go to others to ask for feedback on your writing in order to improve your craft. A cautionary note here, not everyone is good at giving feedback. Be careful who you ask, because you might get feedback that isn’t helpful. Having edited several books for friends who are in the process of being published, I can say, they came to me because they trusted my opinion, but I made sure to ask them what their goal was in receiving my feedback. No one loves a critic, but genuine, caring help to navigate something you put your heart and soul into, goes a long way, and the person you honor with asking for that feedback needs to have both an honest, and a caring heart. Many writers are discouraged because they didn’t choose their helper well.
Be bold, be unafraid, and be intentional so that you learn how to give to others the best version of the imagination that lives in your heart and mind!
