Word Sketching

My boyfriend was driving me to the airport the other day; it's a bit of a drive, and I felt like writing but I didn't know what. So I got out my pen and paper and just starting describing every I saw, in the greatest detail I could. I decided to call it word sketching, because I thought it's a bit like an artist sketching a scene that inspires them :)


With word sketching, when you see a place, a person, a situation, anything, it helps you record what you may have taken no notice of if you weren't looking for it. You're writing it down on paper, and writing in as much detail as you can, so you won't forget. A wonderful character, scene or even a whole story might come from it. I think this exercise would be especially helpful if descriptions aren't always your strong point (Like me).


'Word Sketching' - How I do it.


Word Sketching is basically just that, 'sketching' a description with your words.


I really recommend doing this exercise in a car (as long as you're not driving!), or some kind of public transport. I first did this while my boyfriend drove me to the city, and when you're in the car and constantly moving, you can't hem and haw and be choosy over your words when describing a scene before you, because it will be gone by the time you even begin writing. If you write quickly and furiously, you'll end up with a vivid word-picture. Just write, don't worry about your wording. Even if you have a whole paragraph of poorly written description, there's bound to be a gem there somewhere. It's a great way to learn to describe-on-the-fly. Nothing hinders your creativity like stopping for ten minutes to try and decide how to describe your main character's eyes.


Some of the things I word sketched were, an abandoned building, a park on a block surrounded by busy streets, a water fountain, even a man walking down an empty street, with a tray of four McDonalds ice-creams, even though he was no where near a McDonalds (There has to be a short story there. Maybe).


What's your favourite writing exercise? Have you tried something like word sketching before, or do you plan to now you've read my post? Do you find it helpful? Comment below!




Disclaimer: I don't claim that I invented word sketching. It's a simple idea and I'm sure it's been done before. I have quickly googled the actual term however ('word sketching'), and nothing has come up in this context, as far as I can see :)


[Copied from my old abandoned blog ;]