A visually written story drags the reader into his imagination. One of the reasons people like to read a book. They are away from the here and now. But how do you make a story visible to the reader?
Be specific
Describe the cupboard as “the cupboard with Queen’s stickers on it” or the candies as “the five heart-shaped candies”. It says more than just “that cupboard” or “those sweets”.
Let the facts speak for themselves
Try to state observable facts without making your own judgment. For example, do not say: “there was a beautiful hotel” but: “there was a hotel, two stories high, built of large medieval stones with a vaulted entrance and a row of willows on either side”. Let the reader judge for himself what you describe.
Describe details
Be specific by providing details. You can use eloquent details such as a gray hair that appears in someone’s hair, a blood stain on the floor. In a thriller, for example, the attention is suddenly focused on a detail, which makes you think “this is important”. You can also use unusual details that not everyone would describe, eg the holes in the sink hole. This makes a story interesting.
Write as if it were a movie
Films often start with a total shot and then zoom in. They show things from below or from above. You can also describe things in this way.
Describe what you perceive with your senses (nose, ears, eyes)
What do you smell in your story, what do you hear, what do you see … The salty sea air you sniff, the rolling of the waves …
Use bullets
For example, “The house was full of books, boxes, nails, shelves.” Enumerations place more emphasis on the things you describe, in this case the enumeration shows that it was a big mess in the house.
Use numbers
For example: “he called her twice a week”. That way you can clarify a story. Just make sure you don’t overdo the numbers. Numbers that are too big or too small can be beyond human imagination. E.g. 500 billion houses, what do you have to imagine?
Make comparisons
A comparison compares something to something else, eg as leaky as a basket. The similarity between leak and basket is that it has holes. By comparing words with something familiar you can clarify them for the reader. You can also make a text more vivid with a separate comparison that no one has made before. The greater the distance between subject and image, the more surprising. For example, someone once invented the image of “a wall of water”. Watch out for a lame comparison. That is a comparison that is not correct, such as: “‘he looks green as butter”.