Practice attaching words to feelings requires time to
do. Without a system that helps you monitor that time, the
minutes or hours could feel unproductive. With the right
exercise, you can then use that time wisely, as well as
save you time and frustration.
Learning to apply the right words to our six senses is
a top ingredient to the mixture of writing. Its language
brings the reader into the story. All of us easily know
how we feel, or what we're seeing (okay, most of the
time), what we're hearing, smelling, tasting, and sensing,
and can usually explain it in 50 words if pushed to do it.
But, how do you describe it in one or two words without
the pushing?
Also, by beginning with good material, the remaining
part of the writing process becomes easier. This exercise
will help you improve your beginning.
This is a simple exercise that you can do anywhere,
anytime, in a space of minutes or longer. You can practice
Monday mornings in the garden, the doctor’s waiting
room, or in the lunchroom. It can last as long as a
television commercial (oops those aren't short any
longer), or you more aggressively with a devoted
30-minutes a day. Whatever length of time or place you
have, it will always improve your skill.
You will want to sit while completing this exercise.
Okay, let's start with the most difficult spot, your
supplies -- paper and your writing instruments. Landscape,
portrait, small, or regular size sheet of paper doesn't
matter. I define what paper size to use by the amount of
time available and my location. If I'm mobile, I use my
small journal. If I'm at my desk or at home, I use a
regular size paper. Sometimes lines, sometimes not.
Sometimes the exercise flows over to two or three sheets.
Don't limit the experience by paper size. Have fun with
the recording tools as well. Experimentation is the key to
our curiosity. And, curiosity is the foundation of a
writer.
Draw a circle on the page and place your name in the
center. Large, small, in color, black, or blue, again it
doesn't matter. Use whatever flips your pancakes at that
moment. In other words, whatever feels good at the time.
Your objective is to describe your five senses, six if
you have that gift, with words. Write the words that
express that sense in the space inside the circle randomly
around your name.
Here is how you would use this exercise to increase
environment awareness and description. Write your words in
the location on the paper relevant to the direction it
appears. For example: I'm sitting outside my office on a
9th floor balcony at the moment, I hear a heavy humming
from the tires on the wet pavement below and birds
chirping above me to the right. I would place the words
for the tires on the bottom left and the chirping on the
upper right on my page.
Here are nine prompts to help you expand your
experience.
* Write words describing your atmosphere--the quality of
air.
* What are the clouds doing? Can you see animals in their
shapes?
* The temperature of your location.
* The source of light and its quality.
* Where are people standing or sitting?
* Shadows, are they're any? Where and how do they fall?
* Predominant colors, wall colors, wallpaper, molding,
chair
railing, textured ceiling.
* What do you smell? Using comparisons are a great way to
relate to your reader. The air feels like just getting out
of the fogged shower stall.
* Are there other people around you? How do they smell,
their clothes, their shoes? Guess at what they might do
for
a living. Are they dressed like someone on their way to
work, doesn't work, a mom, dad, baker, or what?
After you are comfortable describing your environment,
spice the exercise up another notch. Compare your
descriptive words to something else. For example: The room
you are sitting in feels like a sauna with my clothes on.
Continue spicing up the exercise to increase your
awareness and descriptive powers--use people and objects.
Since you are most familiar with yourself, begin there.
After practicing on the most familiar subject,
yourself, create a list of other familiar people in your
life. Then sort the list from most familiar to least.
Continue down the list. Somewhere during these lists and
practice sessions, you will begin to feel comfortable with
your skill.
You can continue taking the exercise to another level.
This time you are ready to expand your awareness and
adaptation to words. Visit the local mall; sit in the food
court for smorgasbord of new enriching thoughts-to-words
experiences.
Here are 11 prompts to help you expand your levels:
* Describe what you are wearing.
* How does your body feel?
* What are your hands doing?
* How does your throat feel?
* How are you holding your mouth?
* Eye movement
* Breathing
* How do you feel in general, in detail?
* Name your mood. Does it have a flavor and color?
* Describe your feelings with reference to music. A
certain
song or type of music.
* How does your hair smell, clothes, the chair you're
sitting on, the book you're reading?
Be patient with yourself while practicing. This
exercise isn't the easiest to complete, however, it is the
most effective. Even if you aren't a writer, this exercise
will help you triple your awareness skills in a short time
period1. This exercise also helps police officers,
speakers, judges, attorneys, or anyone else that uses
their awareness skills to see and put it into words. This
is also a NLP--neurolinguistics programming skill--for
those aware of this process.
