There is an art to writing that is fast making a come back. There was a great movie version that was lost to the computer age. Do you remember when people would find creative ways to say what they could not say directly? Descriptive words and indirect lighting that made imaginations work and thrilled the brain are a missed art.

Old black and white horror movies didn’t need big fancy sets. People were scared with what their minds held because they weren’t given all the information. The music told you to be scared. The shadows told you the bad guy was coming. 

Writers wanted to tell their stories and include a few things that good people just do not say. They wanted to talk about politics, relationships, and sex. They used words and creative imagery to show the direction of the story sending the mind in the intended direction.

For the longest while now writers have felt they can write plan and simple, straight out, whatever was in their minds. That is fine for most readers because they want the thoughts to be there without having to do the work. Some of us feel you could get that from the television just as easily.

It was a wonderful surprise to be reading The Face by Dean Koontz and read him use the old style of indirect descriptions. You can get a readers mind working and their imagination flowing and they will come back for more.

Think about the favorite authors you have. Why are they your favorite? Is it because you were handed the story and told what to think? On the other hand, do you remember it because it touched you? Did it make you think, or feel, or take you into the story? That is an author worth reading.

If you are a writer then you know you want to get into your readers minds. The best way to do that is to give them the tools to think without doing all the thinking for them. Give them a story with direction and descriptions that leave them feeling and thinking on their own.