As a photographer, describing a visual scene photographically through my lens felt always second nature or even first nature to me. But describing a scene with words or describing a feeling is something I have more difficulty with. I never thought describing a spiral could be so difficult until I read this. A few times I challenged myself by describing a photo-still life that I worked on. Thank you, Matt, for this inspiring 'fragment'
Thank you, Piroska. They're certainly very different ways of describing, aren't they? I think it's a useful reminder of how lazy and formulaic we can be with language (written/spoken/visual) and that there are incredibly rich and creative solutions if we search for them.
Lovely as always. Reading this it clicked for me why I often struggle with description - I'm just not a visual person. I don't learn visually, and I struggle to create visually. (Although I am working on it through food photography.) Thanks for giving me the 'aha' moment and something to improve upon.
Apologies for only just finding your comment, Claire, on the occasion of today's annual look-back! I have to confess to being completely ignorant of the idea that people able to see the world could – perhaps much more so than your sense of yourself – be non-visual in their thinking. I was listening to a podcast where a scientist was explaining this and it was a real 'no-way!' moment. He gave the example of explaining to a friend how he hailed a cab in New York in the coldest days of winter to reach his hotel, and how that friend wouldn't be able to visually latch onto 'yellow cab', 'skyscrapers' and 'wet weather/snow'. The idea that I could tell my wife that I'm off to walk the dog through the woods today and for her not to immediately think of our golden retriever prancing through a floor of yellow and brown leaves... I don't think such a descriptive block/limitation had ever occurred to me before.
Matt, thanks as always for putting thoughts into words. I am definitely adding the Pessoa book to my TBR. Description is the most challenging aspect of writing, I believe. It is easy to get caught up in the comparison cycle of synonyms or use the same bland phrases over and over. Language is an incomplete system for communicating thoughts and feelings. The challenge for all writers is to work the words in such a way as to make others seamlessly feel and think what we have felt and thought; to see the world through our eyes. I am woefully inadequate to the task, but I embrace the challenge all the same.
Thank you for your thoughts on this subject, Matthew. And apologies for only just finding them on this annual look-back! I find it so interesting to learn about writers who struggle with some of the tools at their disposal. I used to fear the repetition of words, but then the idea of writing with a thesaurus at your left hand is no better. Building up word muscle certainly helps, but doing away with artifice and saying the thing as naturally as you can is the best tool I know and that always leads me back to that Pessoa quote.
As a photographer, describing a visual scene photographically through my lens felt always second nature or even first nature to me. But describing a scene with words or describing a feeling is something I have more difficulty with. I never thought describing a spiral could be so difficult until I read this. A few times I challenged myself by describing a photo-still life that I worked on. Thank you, Matt, for this inspiring 'fragment'
Thank you, Piroska. They're certainly very different ways of describing, aren't they? I think it's a useful reminder of how lazy and formulaic we can be with language (written/spoken/visual) and that there are incredibly rich and creative solutions if we search for them.
Lovely as always. Reading this it clicked for me why I often struggle with description - I'm just not a visual person. I don't learn visually, and I struggle to create visually. (Although I am working on it through food photography.) Thanks for giving me the 'aha' moment and something to improve upon.
Apologies for only just finding your comment, Claire, on the occasion of today's annual look-back! I have to confess to being completely ignorant of the idea that people able to see the world could – perhaps much more so than your sense of yourself – be non-visual in their thinking. I was listening to a podcast where a scientist was explaining this and it was a real 'no-way!' moment. He gave the example of explaining to a friend how he hailed a cab in New York in the coldest days of winter to reach his hotel, and how that friend wouldn't be able to visually latch onto 'yellow cab', 'skyscrapers' and 'wet weather/snow'. The idea that I could tell my wife that I'm off to walk the dog through the woods today and for her not to immediately think of our golden retriever prancing through a floor of yellow and brown leaves... I don't think such a descriptive block/limitation had ever occurred to me before.
Love an 'aha' or 'no way' moment like that! Really makes you think.
"a spiral... it’s a circle that rises without ever closing" - perfect. An excellent read as ever
Thanks, Mark. That book, and especially that passage, changed my thinking and writing profoundly.
Matt, thanks as always for putting thoughts into words. I am definitely adding the Pessoa book to my TBR. Description is the most challenging aspect of writing, I believe. It is easy to get caught up in the comparison cycle of synonyms or use the same bland phrases over and over. Language is an incomplete system for communicating thoughts and feelings. The challenge for all writers is to work the words in such a way as to make others seamlessly feel and think what we have felt and thought; to see the world through our eyes. I am woefully inadequate to the task, but I embrace the challenge all the same.
Thank you for your thoughts on this subject, Matthew. And apologies for only just finding them on this annual look-back! I find it so interesting to learn about writers who struggle with some of the tools at their disposal. I used to fear the repetition of words, but then the idea of writing with a thesaurus at your left hand is no better. Building up word muscle certainly helps, but doing away with artifice and saying the thing as naturally as you can is the best tool I know and that always leads me back to that Pessoa quote.
I’ll be putting some of these words in my commonplace book. Fabulous writing … and thinking.
Thank you, Barrie. 💛
I sometimes struggle to find descriptive words Matt.
Sixteen VB instalments beg to differ with their author….
Haha, Donna is a dictionary.
They’re worth their weight in gold. Hold on to her!
You’re not wrong.