Catch the Feel of Fall Before It Fades

What a great time of year!! Fall is my personal favorite. I also think the beginning of the season is the perfect time to exercise your descriptive writing. The season is fresh and even if it isn't your favorite, there are bound to be specifics that you either love or dread.

In my Institute of Children's Lit class, we had to do a 250 word description of a significant place or event from our past using all the senses. I chose a summer evening at my childhood home. The smell of my sisters freshly washed skin and the feel of the grass on our recently bathed, bare feet.

It was hands down my favorite exercise of the class. I read it to my parents and sister. They got a little teary. I think about that piece when I get stuck on my descriptions. It reminds me I am capable of hitting the nail.

When my writing tends to lean heavily towards dialogue and less towards the descriptions, I take a time out and describe the scene. Then I can pull pieces of that description and use them where it works in the piece.

I also like to keep notes on my descriptions of seasons because they jar my memory when I am writing about a season that is different then the one I am sitting in.

My goal today is to write 250 words on fall where my current MC lives. I may use all of it or none of it but I will have it just in case I'm writing about fall while it's snowing outside my office window!