I’ve heard reading be described as “Theater for the Mind” or “Movies of the Imagination”. As a writer, this is true as well. What I find myself most often doing when writing a story is watching it in my mind and trying my best to document what I see.
If you happen to be a writer and are looking to strengthen your ability to write what you see I have this suggestion for you. Watch a movie in the genre you are writing for or that you like enough to hold your attention span. Then from start to finish, watch it scene by scene and on a piece of paper or on a laptop, write down and describe as much as you can for each scene. The characters, the props, the tone of the scene and location. Try to see if you can determine the character’s motives. As an added bonus, try doing this without pausing or rewinding the scene as much as possible. For the shorter version, you can try to just breakdown a scene into notes and see how well you can document what is going on.
The next time you are watching the story unfold within your mind, you should notice an improved ability to capture what you see in greater detail and faster than before. I wish you luck on your writing and remember to never give up.
