Posts tagged Lists

Stephen King says in his wonderful memoir On Writing that imagery is what allows the reader to become a sensory participant in your story. I believe him. Without imagery, your story has nowhere to happen. Only by creating a place for your story do you allow your characters room to move, to grow, and to surprise you.

Today’s list contains fifty images designed to invoke something within your mind’s eye. If they do, then I win. If they don’t, then I lose. And if, for a moment, that image takes you to another place–clicks your mind’s eye over to another view, so to speak–then I win big time.

Note how in almost each example the image is active. Each image is doing something. Except for taste imagery, which tends to be more passive, but I feel this is because when tasting, the subject is almost always the taster, not the taste.

Some are bonus images, in that they appeal to more than one sense. Most are written in the present tense and use that omnipresent you to help sell the image.

1. A red apple sitting on a wooden table
2. A trumpet hitting a high note
3. A dog rubbing against your leg
4. Garbage rotting on a curb
5. Sweet, cold cherry pie
6. Sunlight glaring off a car window
7. Asphalt burning under your bare feet
8. Sour lemonade puckering your lips
9. An icepack chilling the skin around your ankle
10. A car squealing its tires
11. Thunder rattling a building
12. The coarse fabric of a cheap pillowcase scratching your face
13. A crowd of teenagers egging on a fight
14. Cigarette smoke floating in the air
15. The momentary feeling of weightlessness when you’ve just been hit by another vehicle on the road
16. Very hot food burning your throat
17. The civil defense siren blaring
18. Loud bass thumping the windows
19. A sink dripping
20. Sawdust laying on the floor
21. Quiet music playing
22. Shadows crawling across the room at sunset
23. Snow piled up along the curb
24. A cat sleeping under a rocking chair
25. A carved skull reflecting moonlight
26. An old book gathering dust on a table
27. Condensation gathering on the outside of a glass of tea
28. A shaving razor slipping against your skin
29. A dog barking after midnight
30. Flowers blooming after a rainstorm
31. A bee sting prickling up your arm
32. Static erupting out of your radio
33. Sweat sticking to your skin
34. The sun’s rays beating down on you
35. A piece of paper slicing your finger
36. Bleach stinging your eyes
37. The mild whiff of antiseptic hanging in the air
38. A crowded market bustling with people
39. The needle from an immunization or IV pinching your skin
40. Graffiti covering a wall
41. A loose hair tickling your forehead
42. A dark sedan following you across town
43. Mud splashing up
44. A thumbtack poking your foot
45. Donut crumbs sticking to your fingers
46. Your stomach aching after eating something undercooked
47. Bad breath hitting you in the face
48. A kitten nuzzling your hand
49. An air conditioner humming
50. Red ink staining your fingers