The old cliche states that a picture is worth a thousand words. This may be true, but sometimes it's necessary to paint a word picture using descriptive language that creates a vivid image for the reader or listener. The ability to paint a word picture is useful in sales, creative writing and speeches or presentations. The basic approach to creating vivid images with your words is fairly straightforward. You may use a few simple techniques to craft phrases that really bring your words to life.
Instructions
1. Create a visual reference of the scene or object you wish to use as the subject of your word picture. Travel to the physical location, take a photograph, or simply close your eyes and imagine the scene to give yourself an idea of what you want your audience to see and experience.
2. Write down a few basic sentences of what can be inferred from the visual image to use as a basis for the word picture. For example, a scene with a house that has smoke rising from the chimney -- you can infer that there's a fire in the hearth and that the weather outside is chilly.
3. Write down a simple rough draft of the word picture based on the inferences made from the visual reference. For example, the thick smoke rising from the chimney gave the crisp autumn air a faint scent of cedar that reminded him of Christmas during his youth in the woods of Michigan.
4. Use a thesaurus to revise the rough draft. Substitute descriptive words for any common or boring words you used in the original.
5. Write the final draft with the words you found in the thesaurus.
