How to Create Imagery in Your
Writing
Use the five senses!
Powerful sensory images
will capture the reader's
imagination and create
more descriptive realism
in your writing.
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Begin by grabbing the reader’s attention and
drawing him into the story. Then look to see that you
are using the five senses in order to capture the
reader’s imagination.
For example: If a car is approaching a railroad
crossing while a train is thundering down the tracks,
the reader will be anxious to see what happens next.
How fast is the train moving and who is in the car? Is
it a vintage blue coupe, a rusty red jalopy, or a
gunmetal gray pick-up? A reader who can feel, smell,
hear, touch, and almost taste what he imagines is
drawn into the story by the sensory description. The
reader is then able to put himself into the plot!
 Your
descriptive writing helps the reader
to smell the "musty camphor scent of
rotting tree roots, submerged in brackish
swamp water" or hear the "deafening
sound of absolute silence cracking the
still night air with the snap of a frozen
limb" or taste the "warm, velvety
sweetness of the chocolate morsels
melting on his tongue."
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Writing with sensory descriptions of sound, touch, smell,
sight, and taste requires the use of precise language, and a
sophisticated vocabulary. A voice can sound hollow, shrill,
frantic, seething, sarcastic, annoyed, etc.. A blanket may feel
scratchy, fluffy, silky, coarse, or fuzzy, etc.. Vocabulary really
matters! Be sure to find just the right word. Peer conference,
use a thesaurus, ask a parent or teacher for assistance.
The subtle difference in meaning between specific words
can make writing both sensory and believable. When a
reader imagines "pellets of cold rain falling like shards of
glass from the sky," he can experience the sensation of
chilling picks of ice on the skin's surface. The sensory aspect
conveys much more than just a cold rain. It becomes real to
your reader.
 Use
the five senses, a strong vocabulary,
descriptive verbs, and strong modifiers to
convey the physical environment to your
reader. Your reader will then be able to
imagine the scenario through the writer's
eyes. Your reader will become involved in
the writer's personal experience through
these sensory images, as though he is
actually there. Vocabulary and language
usage are imperative for creating the
sensory mood and tone of your story.
 Using
of the five senses can vastly
improve your writing by creating strong
imagery. The appropriate use of strong
verbs and modifiers creates colorful
descriptions.
 In
order for you to draw your reader into
your world of creation, it is essential that
your reader experiences that world just as
you do– through all five senses. What usually
happens is we can visualize and then we
forget to include the other four other types
of imagery – touch, sound, smell, and taste.
 Just as when writing about a character,
writing about a place, is more effective
when the focus is on specific, unusual
details, rather than general observations.
Compare and contrast these two descriptions:
 “The sun is shining. Many people are sitting
in the courtyard, talking.”
 “A
woman wearing a beige, hand-knitted
cardigan and purple slacks is sitting alone
on a bench, smoking. She watches as a
teenaged girl, dressed in skin-tight black
jeans, pushes a stroller across the sunlit
courtyard.”
 Wherever
you are, take a moment to
observe exactly what is happening
around you. Every street corner, every
park, every supermarket, is a potential
goldmine for you-the writer. It is a matter
of taking the time to watch and also to
listen, feel, smell and taste.
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Sound, is the second essential ingredient to writing about setting
successfully. A restaurant is unimaginable without the clinking of
cutlery and the chattering of people in the room. As film directors
know, background music has a dramatic effect on an individual’s
reaction to their surroundings. Try sitting in a public place and
listening to contrasting kinds of music on your iPod, from rock to
folk to opera, and observe how the music affects your emotional
and intellectual response to your setting.
Touch, is the third element important to depicting place. Climate
and temperature determine the nature of any environment and
contribute to a character’s sensibility and mood. When writing
with touch imagery, try to “show” rather than “tell”. In other words,
describe what is causing a character’s reaction, rather than just
stating the facts.
Compare and contrast these two
descriptions:
 “It
was a windy day.”
 “Jack
shivered as the wind cut across his
skin and cursed James for having left his
jacket at school.”
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The sense of smell is crucial to creating a sense of place. Imagine
walking around a dairy farm without being able to smell newlyturned soil or cow manure. Describing the associations that a
character draws with a particular smell can be effective – what
stronger reminder of an ex-girlfriend or boyfriend than a passing
whiff of the after-shave or perfume that he/she wore?
Experiment with writing using imagery of taste! Here is a way to
have plenty of fun with your writing. What better excuse for eating
than conducting research for a story? Would a novel set in Italy be
convincing without any mention of pizza or pasta? What kind of
character would spend most of his/her time eating in fast food
restaurants?
Writing about place in a way that appeals to all five of the senses
can be enjoyable. Try spending a day in a particular environment
and taking notes regarding what you see, taste, hear, smell and
feel.