Photo courtesy of
What type of writer are you? Some, like my friend Edie Melson, hear the dialogue. Others, like me, see a movie. Here’s the way I see it.
Every book…every chapter…every scene…every page…every paragraph…every sentence…every word we write should transition into a movie onscreen. If we want to write compelling stories, the reader must be able to see the movements, hear the words, and feel the emotion, whether we’re writing mystery, romance, or historical fiction.
In order to make my writing real, I take the words on my paper and project them onto the screen of my mind and then ask, “What kind of movie do I see from only those words?” The problem is, as the writer of the words, my mind inserts lots of information I haven’t actually put on the paper. My mind can see a pretty good scene, complete with all the senses. But I need to see what the reader sees.
If I’ve done a good job, you should be able to see the setting, feel the emotion, and smell the air. The characters should come alive on the screen as you watch them stand, sit, and move around the set.
If I’ve not done a good job, I have plain black and white stills, stuck in a dusty, one-dimensional photo album.
Here’s an example of a boring photo:
An old black woman came into the room. She had a nice voice.
Here’s how Christa Parrish created a movie with words in her novel, Home Another Way.
She looked older than her one hundred years, if that was possible. Her skin, the color of cinnamon sticks hung loosely over her skull, as if she had borrowed it from someone much larger, or bought it off a clearance rack. Age spots clung to her cheeks like leeches. Filmy, sightless eyes peered out from between rheum-caked eyelids, and her earlobes hung nearly to her chin. But her voice was a lullaby of fireflies and snickerdoodles. My tense muscles relaxed under her words.
Oh my goodness! Can you see and hear this dear woman? Now that’s how it’s done! Thank you, Christa!
Okay, readers, how about a quick exercise? I’ve written some black and white stills below. Would you take a few minutes to rewrite them and make them into a movie of words? And then would you post one or more of them as comments?
The winning comment wins a downloadable workshop of your choice from my Store. 
1. I went across the street and went into the store.
2. When my daddy came home, the dogs got excited.
3. She sat down and got to work.
Now friends, time to work your magic. Let’s see you turn one or more of these boring black and whites into a passage worthy of an Academy Award! (You don’t have to do them all. You can do one, two, or all three!)
