With Feeling!

Photo by The CEO Kid on Unsplash

Last month I suggested that you describe an object, any object, using as many senses as you could to bring to life for your reader that pencil, book, stick of gum or whatever you chose. This month let’s go a step farther. This time instead of choosing any object that might be in front of you, choose one that is important to you, one you have strong feelings about. The object doesn’t have to at hand. It can be something you remember from the past. An old teddy bear. The flyswatter your brother used to chase you with. The piano you hate practicing … or the piano you love to play.

Do you have an object in mind? Now, describe it. Don’t tell, in your description, how you feel about the teddy bear or the flyswatter or the piano or whatever object you may have chosen. But describe it in a way that your readers will feel whatever it is the object makes you feel.

If you loved the teddy bear when you were very small, will you describe its button eyes as blank? Probably not. If you grew to fear that flyswatter, would you describe it as lacy? Not unless you use its being lacy as a point of contrast with the sharp sting a flyswatter can inflict. If you hate playing the piano, the keys could look like cruelly grinning teeth. If you love playing, their smooth surfaces might beg to be stroked.

Write your description—it doesn’t need to be a long one—and then share it with a couple of readers. Ask them how they think you feel about the object you described and how reading about it makes them feel.

Did you get your feeling across? If you didn’t, how might you revise your description to make the underlying feeling come through more strongly?

In writing, especially in writing stories, feelings are important. In fact, most readers turn to stories precisely because they know a story will make them feel. And part of that feeling comes through your description.

So, one more time … with feeling!