“Sight” Writing: 5 Senses

For the average writer, sight, is typically the easiest of the five senses to describe. Our world is filled with a menagerie of colors, people, plants, animals, buildings, and things. Each of those objects are finite and can be described visually, making sight easy to relate on paper.

But describing the sense of sight doesn’t have to be bland. Take for instance, the picture below.

What do you see?

Most people see a whitewashed glacial landscape void of personality and excitement. Some would describe this as, “snow and ice covered the ground and tall snow-capped peaks stood far off in the distance”.

In fairness, that is an adequate description, but it lacks pizazz. It lacks personality. And more than anything else, it lacks a developed sense of sight.

Take sixty-seconds and write what you see in the scene shown in the aforementioned picture.
What do you see now?

How would you describe the shallow turquoise lake as its color darkens to a chilly cerulean blue before disappearing into the midnight depths of the central crevice?

What about the mountains? Are they snow-capped? Or does the snow creep down the mountainside in wispy white fingers before being swallowed by the soulless shadow mountains?

Is it a snowy white glacier? Or do you see the pockmarks, the spashes of dirt and sediment, and the areas smoothed by the run-off?

Take a deeper look. Imagine you are standing on this glacier. See the lake. Peer at the mountain. Watch the wind blow across the landscape.

Now what do you see?

Leave your unique description of what you “see” in the comments below. And make sure to take the time to always peer into your scene, setting, or storyworld and describe and your characters in an exceptionally engaging way.