Emotional Invitation

I've been reading a lot of poetry lately. And one thing that I really appreciate about that genre is that, as the reader, we are invited into the poets' experience which can provoke deep and lasting emotion. Poetry is a collection of words, chosen carefully and placed intentionally - it's concise and image rich. Not a lot of additional words to clutter the scene built in my mind by the poet.

I like to write about my childhood memories or recent personal reflections. I can get caught up in telling what I saw or felt. This can be detrimental - what I mean is, I don't want to write as if I'm a reporter for a local newspaper providing the facts and emotionless details.

My desire is to invite the reader into my experience and help them walk in my shoes, feel what I felt, smell what I smelled, see what I saw. This is tangible writing and it goes directly to the heart. This isn't always easy to do. It means rethinking what I was actually feeling and then put the correct words down in a way that will provoke an image in the reader's mind and heart.

In my opinion, writing that evokes emotion - of any kind - draws me to a journey in my imagination where every twist and turn offers a new scene.

The next time you approach a writing prompt or project, ask yourself, "Do I want to tell the reader what to see OR do I want to invite the reader into the experience?" Either is fine, depending on the style of writing you have in mind. If you choose to intentionally invite the reader into the experience, know that this can take some work, rewriting and reorganizing sentences. Ask yourself does this sentence add value to the piece? One thing I do (which may seem odd) is to read my work out loud. This helps me to "see" the image/scene or not "see" it due to word clutter. Maybe that will be of use for you too. I love challenges in writing, I want to learn and be stretched beyond my current writing abilities - but it takes large amounts of effort. But I believe that it's effort well worth the, well...effort! :0)

Happy Creating ~ deAnn