Sensory writing (“Grainy”)

Another late night blog. Just got back from an Incubus concert. OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG! Love those guys. In my Top 10 musical heroes, easily. I want to write about that, and them, more tomorrow and show off some of the pictures I took.

But before I crashed out tonight, I wanted to respond to today’s prompt, grainy.

One of my favorite parts of the movie City of Angels (as terrible as it was) was when Nick Cage’s character asked Meg Ryan’s character to describe a pear. (See, I can’t even remember their character names…) I think this scene adequately captures the struggle of a writer to not only inform a reader, but capture their attention. Maybe even ENRAPTURE… ENSNARE… Yeah, that’s the ticket. He asks her to go beyond “sweet” in her description, and she responds by talking about the graininess of the meat of the fruit. I remember listening to that scene thinking, Wow, how often do I take the time to really experience and be aware of what is happening sensorially in any moment? How would I describe even half of what I eat to someone who had never eaten? As a word nerd and incredibly bodily person, it was a fascinating thing to consider.

When I read my fictional narrative writing, I find that I could still do a lot more towards capturing moments with those little, grainy details. I actually look forward to pushing myself more and more in that area, writing and then revising with interesting minutiae that enhances the experience of the reader, rather than distracting from it.

More to come. Sleep well!
– Ryan