Imagery

It has been a typical Oklahoma spring around here.  Thunderstorms, tornadoes, and the chaos that surrounds them has been ongoing for a few weeks.  As with most Oklahomans, I have spent my days dealing with the aftermath of Mother Nature's fury, and my evenings staring at the television screen and hoping the next twister finds empty fields.

Somewhere along the way, Summer sneaked in through the back door.

I know, officially it is not Summer, but Mother Nature isn't much for schedules.  I stepped outside yesterday morning to take care of some yard work and broke into a sweat before the mower hummed to life.  So, now we shift gears into a typical Oklahoma summer; hot, humid, and windy till the sun goes down, and then the wind will sometimes calm where you're left with just plain old hot and humid.

While I'm sitting in front of the television with the AC blowing full bore and a tall glass of lemonade in my hand, an Oklahoma Tourism commercial comes across the screen.  The scenes are inviting and made me yearn to load up the camper and find some of those beautiful corners of the state.  Then it hit me; those images on the screen felt inviting, by design, but they lacked an element of truth.  They were all missing the people gathered beneath a shade tree with drinks that used to have ice in them, holding them to their foreheads while fanning themselves with the other hand.  They also missed the constant drone of cicada's in the background.

This brought to mind imagery in my writing.  Most author's know that part of bringing the reader into the story is utilizing the senses.  Most of the time we rely on sight, but there is more to story-telling than painting a picture, though we can use that image to project other impacts on our senses.

The ceiling fan creaked with every rotation and once again Jonus wrote down oil on his mental list of things to do.  It would have to wait.  He leaned back in the chair and wiped the moisture from his brow with an already damp kitchen towel.  The smell of coconut oil told him Thea was escaping to the pool before he saw her prance across the room in her new two-piece she had paid far too much for.  He unbuttoned his shirt and felt the breeze on his soaked skin.


Feeling warm?  Passages like that help bring the reader into the story, and take note that the word heat was never used.  There is something about sound of a creaking ceiling fan, or the smell of coconut oil that brings summer to mind.

To me, Steinbeck was a master of imagery.  Pick up any of his stories and you'll have an urge to sit in front of a fan, or snuggle up to the fireplace.  One day, I hope to be that good.

So unless you are selling vacations in a hot and humid state, don't forget imagery.  Utilizing senses other than sight alone will help bring readers into your world.