Sight /
Visual
Imagery
 As An Experience
 Considerations:





Color
Brightness/dimness
Clarity/lack of clarity
How it travels (the power of modifiers)
Show don’t tell: reaction to it
Smell – Olfactory Imagery
 As a reality
 Considerations




Positive, negative
Strength
How it travels
Show don’t tell: reactions to it
Example #1
 Telling: ”The ground floor, rented room was tiny, damp
and obviously uncared for.”
 Showing: "As he entered the room from the hallway the
first thing he noticed was the fusty smell: a combination
of mould, damp and stale cigarette smoke. There were
snail trails across the worn, brown, cord carpet that
covered what little floor space there was. Opposite the
doorway, pushed up against the wall, was a single bed,
covered with a duvet but no duvet cover and a flat,
tobacco-stained pillow.”
http://www.writing-world.com/grammar/print/
dawn02.shtml
Sight and smell
Sound – Auditory Imagery
 As A Reality
 Considerations:




Loudness
Sharpness
How it travels
Show don’t tell- reaction to it
Example #2
 Telling: The bell rang.
 Showing: Ernie sheltered his ears from the
discordant clang that sounded through the halls
with the force of a hundred jarring keystrokes.
http://www.soundsnap.com/industry_and_machi
nes/rollercoaster
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrqeQ0bYj7s
Touch – Tactile Imagery
 As a reality
 Considerations:
 Temperature
 Texture
 Show don’t tell:
reaction to it
Example #3
 Telling: He played the piano.
 Showing: “When his fingers assumed a life of their own,
titillating the ivory keys with the complex music of Bach
and Mozart and Beethoven, and he became one with the
cadence, breathing with the crescendos, his fingers
caressing the melody, until everything else faded,
everything else disappeared, and only the music existed.”
http://www.inspirationforwriters.com/techniques/s
how.html
Describe this scene employing tactile imagery:
Taste / Gustatory
Imagery:
Close your eyes.
Imagine your main character taking a bite of his/her
favorite food.
Take a second bite. Think of the tastes. How would
you describe them without telling us what they are?
Take a third bite. Think of the textures. How would
you describe them without telling us what it is.
Open your eyes. Describe in writing.
Show Don’t Tell- Depict the
Senses
How can these statements be revised?
 “It was cold.”
 “The room smelled bad.”
 “Byron was a rich man.”
 “The girl liked her birthday present.”