Maybe I’ve stated this too often, but I would rather read than watch. Watching another’s creation usually accepts its storyline. Although reading is still experiencing the writer’s story, there’s something creative in imagining the results in my mind. With new information, I recreate the imagined scene from my perspective.
That’s my creative juices flowing! I get to involve myself with the story instead of allowing someone else to tell me all the angles they see to their production.
I get to paint the scenery, imagine the surroundings, and create the story from my perspective in light of the words. Facial expressions, twitches of movement, and character features are not limited to another’s interpretation.
I’m part of the storyline!
I’m sure there are exceptions to this, as very creative image makers can take a jumbled dictionary of words and craft an image that only they can tell. Their image gives me pause to consider the words differently.
Imagine Jesus walking the shoreline of an inland sea—Galilee. Since I’ve been there twice, I’ve had to rethink what I’ve always imagined based on scriptures and movies. Just below the sea, in the Jordan River, I was asked to baptize several folks on our trip. It was nothing like what I imagined: Slippery rocks, clear and cold water, and discomfort. Travel down the Jordan to King Hussein gate, where you cross into the country, Jordan, and the water looks like I’m used to seeing down south. I expected alligators and water moccasins to swim out of the reeds!
Try it. Imagine David as a younger person trying on Saul’s oversized armor, or Moses leading Israel through the Red Sea on dry ground. (In the movie, they used Jello to show the towering waters above Israel.) Try seeing Paul as he dictates his words to a writer (perhaps Luke or Timothy) of a letter he’s dictating. Imagine Jesus hanging on the cross or the tomb being empty.
Now, imagine heaven, peace, joy, comfort, or any other word you use daily.
I’ve said all of this to suggest that sometimes our best-imagined mental scenery can never be publicized because we lack the storytelling ability to relate what we experience internally.
I can try, but that’s the best I can do.
The more I try and the closer my “words” become to the image I’ve painted in my mind, the more trouble I have getting others to see it in my wordy way. In a world used to Reels, Stories, Videos, TVs, and Movies, my most challenging job is telling others what I imagine.
Read. Imagine. Share. Try again.
Keep it up, and you may become a good storyteller yourself!
Thank you for reading.
Please share with others.
It helps me get my book written!
(Below, you may find other topics similar to this one. Please read on!)