The subject of Section 14 of Spilling Ink is description. In it, Ellen Potter says that the writer has to be the reader's eyes. She says that your reader is totally blind and helpless until you describe your fictional world. Makes perfect sense and it's put into words that kids will understand. (and maybe even remember!)
Anne Mazer lets us in on another writing secret-- The Rule of Three. To use the rule of three, you put your words, actions, or dialogue in sets of three. If you haven't heard of this rule before, you will immediately notice it in your reading. I had heard of it, but I hadn't thought about using it with dialogue. New twist for me. When you share this tip, along with all the others, they will feel so important to be "in the know" about things that "real writers" do!
The dare is to describe the color yellow to someone who cannot see! Yowzah! Here goes nothing...
Yellow is butter dripping off a piece of corn on the cob, fresh from the garden. Yellow is the feeling of the sun warming my tired arms and legs. Yellow is a school bus, carefully carrying precious cargo to and from school. Yellow is happy-- a rubber duckie floating in the bathtub or lemonaide freshly squeezed and sold for a quarter by the little girl down the street. Yellow is sour and refreshing- a lemon slice on the side of my sweet tea. Or sometimes it can be sweet-- a Skittle or an M&M in the palm of a child. Yellow is the sound of laughter.
Ahhh, yellow. You nailed it. I like yellow a whole lot more now too. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteLove your descriptions of yellow! I am going to sleep on it and give it a shot in the morning.
ReplyDeleteI have not kept strictly to your guidelines but I have been trying write as much as possible.