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Jessica Ferguson

Author, Writing Coach, Speaker

S is for Sounds, Silence and Senses

April 22, 2016 By Jessica Ferguson 2 Comments

SDay 22 (if you don’t omit the Sundays!) of the A to Z Challenge. It’s S-Day.

Have you ever closed your eyes and listened to a movie or sitcom on TV. It’s an interesting exercise for your writing. Doing so gives you a completely different take on what you were watching. Dialogue becomes crisper but the sounds of movement and activity really activate your imagination. Have you ever noticed the sound a shovel makes as it digs into the earth—over and over again? Ominous. Ever thought about how to describe that sound in your writing? Remember, we want to show, not tell.

What about Silence? Remember The Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel? Silence can be pretty noisy when we’re completely alone and feeling scared. Or when we’re angry and refusing to talk. How do we write it?

Successfully using the senses in our writing bumps our writing to a higher level; our books and stories come alive for our readers. Sensory writing is probably one of the most important things we can learn how to do. I struggle with it and have to make several passes through a manuscript to utilize all the senses. I’ve read that by using the senses and being descriptive, we’re adding a layer of honesty and believability to our writing. Of course, it has to seem natural–not forced. Painting pictures with our words can be challenging.

Just for fun, don’t watch your favorite sitcom, listen to it. Make note of the different sounds you hear and try to effectively write them. Also, here’s a link that will allow you to listen to the shoveling of dirt, snow, gravel, and glass.

Do you find descriptive writing difficult or is using the senses natural for you?

Filed Under: A to Z 2016 Tagged With: Senses, Silence, Sounds

V is for Voices (and other things)

April 25, 2015 By Jessica Ferguson Leave a Comment

I’m hanging in there with the annual A-to-Z Blogging Challenge. For more information on the challenge and its creator visit:   http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com

Can I just tell you that a whisper sounds incredibly loud in a house with no carpet? Voices… I’m always hearing voices… among other things. We had carpet everywhere, even our bathrooms were partially carpeted. Believe it or not, our baseboards in our sunken den were carpeted too.  (I love my new baseboards!) I suppose wallpaper in the kitchen and halls buffered sounds too.

What’s weird is that it’s not only inside sounds that echo and seem louder, its outside sounds too. Neighbor’s music and voices, birds tweeting and cooing, and the ice cream truck sounds like it’s in our driveway waiting for us to run out and choose a flavor.

Maybe things will change once we finish the furnishings–chairs, curtains, paintings on the walls. I hope so.

If you plan on getting wood floors throughout your house, you should know there’s going to be some echoing. And certainly more dust. Sweeping is a daily thing these days so you might do like we did–invest in a dust buster to chase those dust bunnies.

Any tips on how to buffer the sounds in our house? Have I overlooked anything?

Filed Under: A to Z 2015 Tagged With: A to Z Challenge 2015, Carpet, dust, renovation, Sounds, Uncategorized, Voices, Wallpaper

N is for Noise

April 16, 2014 By Jessica Ferguson Leave a Comment

I’m blogging my way through the alphabet with many others participating in the 2014 A to Z Challenge. The A to Z Challenge is the brainchild of Arlee Bird at Tossing it Out. We post every day in April except Sundays.

Today we’re tackling the letter N and for lack of a better word, I guess I’ll choose Noise. Noise has been defined as a sound of any kind. Seems like I always have noise going on in my head. A back and forth dialogue about something or other.

In restaurants I listen to those around me, try to tune in to what they’re saying. While driving, I’m plotting stories and imagining my characters talking to each other. Way too often, I’m constructing a response to questions I know are coming. To me, thinking feels like noise. The only time my mind shuts down is when I sleep.

Silence.

Since we’re undergoing massive renovation in our house, I’ve been hearing a different kind of noise. Scraping. Buzzing. Hammering. Sawing. Boisterous female laughter. Rhythmic Spanish voices. Humming. Even an occasional whistle–from a human. Sometimes a phone.

These new sounds inspire me.

The only noise I can’t stand is when someone tries to talk while the TV is blaring. Now, that’s unpleasant Noise. I can’t understand what all the voices are saying. I feel panicky. My head wants to explode. Figure that one out!

I found a quote I like, and I think I might agree. At any rate, it stirs my imagination.

“People who make no noise are dangerous.” Jean de La Fontaine, French Poet

What’s your favorite noise?

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: A to Z Challenge 2014, Arlee Bird, Jean de La Fontaine quote, Noise, Sounds, Uncategorized

Reality Faith.
Reality Fiction.

"As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
Acts 4:20

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