They say a picture is worth a thousand words.
Study any photograph or painting, and you'll see the totality of color, light, and emotion in a matter of moments—longer if you choose. But you might need those thousand words to visualize something with your mind.
As a photographer, I capture images in a shutter's click. But as a writer, I need more time to create visuals seen only through words. To that end, I use a technique I call Snapshot Writing (or Saying a Lot With a Little).
Snapshot Writing is tight, vivid, and emotional, getting mileage out of words while creating powerful images with all the feels.
One of the most commented upon aspects of my YA romance, SEE ME AS I AM is the depth of emotion evoked and the sense of being blind while seeing everything my MC Jenny Ryan cannot—all of it done in a relatively concise manner.
Take this example from Chapter 4 where Jenny is walking on her family property with her out-of-unharness guide dog, Alexis:
Alexis dashes off the deck and into the yard. We take the path covered in wood shavings down toward Cedar Creek, rattling over rocks and big enough for the fall salmon to come struggling up from the Sandy River. The wind, damp and crisp, smells of decaying leaves and cedar and Douglas fir trees, a trace of wood smoke on the air.
Three sentences.
Crafted details.
Visual images.
Or this from my work in progress, DEAD RECKONING:
Beyond the scattered trees and scrub vegetation, the dunes run in endless hillocks, and to the west, the sea roars and pounds on a shore out of sight. A gull wheels across the sky. The wind smells of wet grass and salt and overnight rain, and the mountains, when I look back, are smoked in cloud.
I crest the last rise where the ocean stretches to meet the sky.
Wind sweeps through the green-gold grass, rustling and scraping in the cold, and I huddle into my jacket beneath the clouds gathering overhead.
The secret to making sentences pop are the verbs used and the details chosen. I grab a handful of elements for my readers to experience and drive them with power verbs. The more specific the verbs—those that sound like their meaning are my favorites!—the more immersive the images. I flesh out the scene with a few well-placed adjectives, but turn most adverbs away at the door.
I was first introduced to this technique by Iain Lawrence, author of the YA historical shipwreck/adventure novel The Wreckers, whose writing captivated me with its strong verbs and vivid phrases. Over the years, I worked to develop my own style along similar lines which came into its strength while writing a blind main character and continues through everything I put into words.
The beauty of saying a lot with a little is its simplicity. Not only does it work for all elements of writing (from narrative to dialogue tags to character actions), but it can be expanded for genres that require more extensive world-building (such as fantasy or historical) or streamlined for younger audiences.
As you edit your work, analyze every word—especially your verb choices—for those that could be stronger, tighter, clearer. Be specific in detail while eliminating anything that clutters what you're trying to convey.
Snapshot writing takes time to master, but will eventually become so second nature you may find yourself thinking—or even speaking—in the phrases with which you write.
Capture the details. You don't need a lot of words. Just the right ones!
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