Does zooming in help us zoom out?
jonathanjames851481.substack.com
Does zooming in help us zoom out?
“If I told someone to be more vulnerable in an essay or book, what I would mean is that not everything the reader needs is making it onto the page,” I wrote to her. “You want people to understand and relate to your story, not just intellectually but viscerally—but there are certain tools and information you have to give them to do that.
Jess Zimmerman • A Cow with a Hole in It
Readers tend to care deeply only about those things they feel in the body at a visceral level. And so as a writer consider your vocation as that of a translator: one who renders the abstract into the concrete. We experience the world through our senses. We must translate that experience into the language of the senses as well.
Suzanne Paola • Tell It Slant, Second Edition
Sensory details help the reader feel as though they are experiencing everything alongside the character, and it will create a much more intimate connection to the scene. The senses can also help to set the mood and ping the theme, while establishing a strong “narrative voice.”