Sentence Imitation

Another good tool for writing is to imitate sentences you like. Simply imitating good sentences is great practice with wordplay so that next time you are writing a paper or writing on your blog, complex sentences with descriptive details and precise punctuation will come to you. One can find sentences worth imitating almost anywhere. I am currently reading The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand--it has been hypnotizing since I started. I can't get enough of the language, the descriptions, the realness of the characters, the ideas and the philosophies... There are sentences throughout the book that make me stop! I read them again. And again. I notice what has just happened within that sentence that released such an effect. To be a better writer, we must read like a writer--we must notice the moves of the author... and why.
Sentence worth imitating: "These children had filthy clothes and smudged faces, agile little bodies, impertinent grins, and eyes bright with a roaring, imperious, demanding intelligence."
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
My analyzation: descriptive adjectives (filthy, smudged, agile, impertinent, imperious, bright), loud participles (roaring, demanding), solid ending noun (intelligence). beautiful picture painted in my mind of these lively homeless children--i immediately have a love for them because of this one little sentence. author has moved me to pity them for their state, and want more for them because of their intelligence.
My imitation: These daughters had silky clothes and polished faces, slenderly toned bodies, hard lined lips, and eyes presumptuous with a piercing, intimate, enticing alertness.
For you: Imitate this Fountainhead sentence on your own, and find two more sentences from your reading worth imitating. Analyze them, recognize why they work, and imitate them.

For creativity and descriptive details in sentences it is sometimes easier to find pictures and remove your details from the pictures when one's own mental image is not powerful enough. It is important to remember the discrepency between writer and reader; the gap, the void, the hollow that must be filled until writer and reader are together in the same place as closely as possible. I, for example, could have a picture in my head of a girl smelling a flower. I want to include it in the story I am writing. The only problem is, every person in the world envisions something different when they picture a girl smelling a flower. Some may picture her in England, amidst a field of wild flowers... some may picture her in upstate New York with a single yellow rose... some may picture a bride with her bouquet... and so forth. If I am a good writer however, I will convey my message as close to exactly what I am picturing in my mind so my readers will be right there alongside me. If I am stumped and cannot capture enough detail within my mind, I can view pictures to describe and embellish. Top left: My sentence that began as - A girl is smelling a flower - now becomes: The platinum blonde girl with long black lashes and an interestingly secretive smirk playing upon her lips, dips her perfectly shaped nose into the vivaciously oversized white flower, seeming to enjoy whatever pleasure she may be getting. Top Right: A sentence that perhaps began as - The family was happy - Now becomes: The family was large and smiling; consisting of five girls four boys and one brother in law who all seemed to be comfortable and intimate with one another, as hands and arms were intertwined and eyes lit up the page with their picture, that had at one point been a reality. Bottom Right: A sentence that started as - Seven girls posed in front of the old barn - becomes... The barn was rustic and leaning; but the most intersting part of the old barn set amidst golden fall leaves, was that seven relaxed and somewhat pensive girls were staring strait ahead from its doorways, windows, and openings, as if they were protecting it; or simply daring the intruder to come further.

And oh the beauty and deliciousness that has now been formed with a bit of detail, imagination, and pictures as a tool for writing...

This is the sentence play for the day! Write! Picture! Get tangible words and feelings your readers wish and feel they were experienceing at the very moment of happening. Assignment: Find three pictures from where ever you please and write a before and after sentence for each, come alive, get playful, feel almost embarrassed at your imagination and creativity.

The Farewell

heidi gave the most wonderful talk. she is so prepared and lucky to have been chosen. she comes from an amazing family and her testimony is solid, the people of japan will be blessed alongside her. we all went to her house afterwards and couldn't seem to pull ourselves away! after talking and laughing for five hours we said goodbye, it still doesn't seem real, not quite sinking in.

Eden. Compliments of heidi.


so we had a girls getaway to celebrate the mission call of heidi. she is heading to tokyo japan in two days, i hate to see her go, but love to see her embark upon such a beautiful adventure. my girlfriends are amazing. we are the best of friends.