When I taught magazine writing at ASU, the coursework was fairly straightforward — three well-reported feature stories of different lengths. But during our lecture time, I saw an opportunity to work on skills that may or may not be necessary in the stories they were working on.
So, during that time, I invited (er, required) students to participate in exercises to improve various aspects of their writing.
For me personally, descriptive, sensory writing is not something that comes easily, but there are times when it is called for.
That’s why I love this exercise that I did with my students — and why I offer it here today as this week’s Wednesday Writing Prompt: Describe your favorite sound in 100-200 words.
So, think about that favorite sound: your child’s giggle, falling rain, a beautiful piano solo, ocean waves, the rustling of trees, Adele’s voice. Now, think about the emotions behind that sound and how you might describe it to someone who’s never heard anything like.
I’ll be honest, this one is hard. But so, so good.
So, go write.