In reading this weeks material, I have really attached to the lesson in chapter three about using sensory detail that matters. The main summary of what I read was that when we write about a situation we should not tell the reader what to feel and think, but instead guide them there by showing them the necessary detail. It is almost like asking the right questions to elicit a certain response in someone.
If I were writing about a floor fan covered in dust from sitting there for months without being cleaned, to the point where the white plastic was turning a dirty dust color -- this would give you a good description of the fan, as well as the person it belongs to. If I simply said that a white fan was covered in dust, the images would be very different and the reader would not gain any new info on the owner of the fan, most likely an important character in the story.
A line I read that was really good said that we strive in fiction to say what we mean and mean more than we say. How powerful! If those are the standards we write by, than we would reconsider a lot of what we write. To use the least amount of words to say the most is no easy feat to accomplish.
After reading that part of chapter three, I automatically began to be conscious of how I write my stories and different ways to think about how to say things in those stories. One thing that I can see being a big help is to sit and think for a moment what my desired outcome is for the reader. What do I want them to feel, see, hear, and how I can get them there without telling them what to feel, hear,and see. The results could be very interesting and I look forward to writing and trying to work through this new pattern of writing process.
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