Incorporate Imagination Into Your Writing

I grew up in the 1980s, and as a kid, I mostly had simple toys that required imagination. Sure, my Kenner® brand Star Wars toys had lights and sounds, but it was up to me to position the figures and fly my Tie Fighter, X-Wing Fighter, and Millenium Falcon in my own imaginary battles.

Maybe that’s why I love triggering a reader’s imagination with my writing. The difference between good writers and great writers is how often readers come back for more – and for copywriters, how much more a client is willing to pay for your best copy.

Defining Imagination

The Oxford Dictionary defines “imagination” as “the faculty or action of forming new ideas, or images or concepts of external objects not present to the senses.” Or “the ability of the mind to be creative or resourceful.”

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy states, “One can use imagination to represent possibilities other than the actual…”

I say it is using mental imagery to create desired outcomes in our minds.

How to Trigger the Imagination of Your Readers

Great writers employ several techniques to trigger the imagination of their readers. Don’t just communicate information or tell what is happening. Draw word pictures.

Use Vivid and Descriptive Language to Paint a Visual Picture

The Great Gatsby is filled with illustrations of this concept. In the movie with Leonardo DiCaprio, viewers can see the colors flashing as the shirts fly into a mixed pile. It is one of my favorite scenes. But in the novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald does the same using only words.

“He took out a pile of shirts and began throwing them, one by one before us, shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel which lost their folds as they fell and covered the table in many-colored disarray. While we admired he brought more and the soft rich heap mounted higher–shirts with stripes and scrolls and plaids in coral and apple-green and lavender and faint orange with monograms of Indian blue.”

• Sheer linen

• Thick silk

• Fine flannel

• Stripes

• Scrolls

• Plaids

• Coral

• Apple green

• Lavender

• Faint orange

• Indian blue

Simply wow. Within the paragraph, he describes a “many-colored disarray " and lists its components before and after.

Use Metaphors and Similes to Make Abstract Concepts Relatable

Metaphors and similes compare unlike things as if they were actually alike. The distinct difference is that metaphors make the comparison as if it were so; similes use “like” or “as” to make a sharper comparison or distinction. Here are some examples.

Note the description of this drink in a simile from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams.

The Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster is an alcoholic beverage invented by ex-President of the Galaxy Zaphod Beeblebrox, considered by the Guide to be the “Best Drink in Existence.” Its effects are similar to “having your brains smashed out by a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick.”

Here’s a popular metaphor from As You Like It, by William Shakespeare:

“All the world’s a stage,

And all the men and women merely players;

They have their exits and their entrances…”

Here’s another metaphor found in Emily Dickinson’s letter of October 1869 to Cowan:

“Dying is a wild night and a new road.”

I mentioned F. Scott Fitzgerald earlier. Gatsby is full of interesting metaphors and similes, but here’s an example from the end of the book:

“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

Isn’t that a much more colorful way of saying, “I try to go forward but keep returning to my past?”

Use Sensory Details to Evoke Specific Sounds, Smells, Tastes, and Textures

As humans, we are naturally wired to perceive the world through our senses of sight, smell, sound, touch, and taste. When it comes to writing, skilled authors use sensory words to create a strong connection with their readers. They start by using descriptive words and then move on to providing vivid and detailed descriptions.

Here are some examples of sensory words:

1. Words related to sight — dancing, stumbling, sparkling, gleaming, tarnished, shadowy
2. Words related to touch — velvety, icy, scorching, gooey, sharp, blunt, damp
3. Words related to taste — disgusting, bland, gritty, buttery, bitter, zesty, refreshing
4. Words related to scent — burning, offensive, manly, musty, fragrant, sweet
5. Words related to sound — roar, screech, cascade, sizzle, whisper, murmur

Here’s an example of the difference sensory words can make:

• Without sensory words: “Imagine your writing is slowing readers down.”
• With sensory words: “Imagine your readers trudging through deep, gluey mud. Their shoes weigh 50 pounds. Squelch. Sploosh. Squelch. Sploosh.”

Read I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou:

“But a bird that stalks

Down his narrow cage

Can seldom see through

His bars of rage

His wings are clipped and

His feet are tied

So he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings

With a fearful trill

Of things unknown

But longed for still

And his tune is heard

On the distant hill

For the caged bird

Sings of freedom.”

This poem discusses the concepts of racial segregation and social discrimination prevalent in American society in the past. The poet employs the metaphor of free birds to introduce the notions of freedom, liberty, and justice. Analyze this poem carefully and observe the rich use of sensory words and vivid imagery throughout the work.

What other ways do you trigger a reader’s imagination with your writing? I’d love to hear your ideas! Please share them in the comments.