Eight Characteristics of Good Writing

How important is it for a writer to be able to discern the difference between good writing and bad writing?
Pretty important, if you ask me.
I know some writers aren’t concerned with quality. In today’s do-it-yourself and get-it-done-fast world, quality plays second fiddle to quantity. Who cares
if your books are full of typos, bad grammar, and poor logic as long as you have published lots and made a bunch of money?
Readers care. Agents, publishers, and reviewers also care. And while you can still make a million with a bunch of badly written books and a stellar
marketing scheme, your work won’t be taken seriously. Also (and this is critical), while it’s possible to make it big by writing badly, it’s not likely. It
happens, but it doesn’t happen often. The better your writing, the better your chances for securing a readership and building a career.

The Characteristics of Good Writing

So, what constitutes good writing? Opinions on the matter vary widely. There will be different traits that make good fiction versus good poetry or good
nonfiction. However, we can cull together a general list of the characteristics of good writing (in no particular order):
1. Clarity and focus: In good writing, everything makes sense and readers don’t get lost or have to reread passages to figure out what’s going
on. Focused writing sticks with the plot or core idea without running off on too many tangents.
2. Organization: A well organized piece of writing is not only clear, it’s presented in a way that is logical and aesthetically pleasing. You can tell
non-linear stories or place your thesis at the end of an essay and get away with it as long as your scenes or ideas are well ordered.
3. Ideas and themes: Is the topic of your paper relevant? Does your story come complete with themes? Can the reader visualize your poem?
For a piece of writing to be considered well crafted, it has to contain clearly identifiable ideas and themes.
4. Voice: This is what sets you apart from all other writers. It’s your unique way of stringing words together, formulating ideas, and relating
scenes or images to the reader. In any piece of writing, the voice should be consistent and identifiable.
5. Language (word choice): We writers can never underestimate or fail to appreciate our most valuable tools: words. Good writing includes
precise and accurate word choices and well crafted sentences.
6. Grammar and style: Many writers would wish this one away, but for a piece of writing to be considered good (let alone great), it has to follow
the rules of grammar (and break those rules only when there’s a good reason). Style is also important in ensuring that a piece of writing is
clear and consistent. Make sure you keep a grammar book and style guide handy.
7. Credibility or believability: Nothing says bad writing like getting the facts wrong or misrepresenting oneself. In fiction, the story must be
believable (even if it’s impossible), and in nonfiction, accurate research can make or break a writer.
8. Thought-provoking or emotionally inspiring: Perhaps the most important quality of good writing is how the reader responds to it. Does she
come away with a fresh perspective and new ideas? Does he close the cover with tears in his eyes or a sense of victory? How readers react
to your work will fully determine your success as a writer.
I want to add an honorable mention for originality. Everything has been done before, so originality is somewhat arbitrary. However, putting old ideas
together in new ways and creating remixes of the best that literature has to offer is a skill worth developing.
Why You Need to Know the Difference Between Good and Bad Writing
To write well, a writer must be able to recognize quality in a piece of writing. How can you assess or improve your own work if you can’t tell the
difference between mediocre and better writing in others’ work?
Writing is also an art form and therefore subject to personal taste. Can you read a book and dislike it but acknowledge that the writing was good? Have
you ever read a book and loved the story but felt that the writing was weak?
A writer should be able to articulate why a piece of writing succeeds or fails, and a writer should also be able to recognize the qualities in a piece of
writing even when it doesn’t appeal to personal taste. These skills are especially necessary when writers are reviewing or critiquing other writers’ work
and when revising, editing, and proofreading their own work.
Where do you stand? Do you rate other people’s writing? Do you worry about whether your own writing is any good? Would you add or remove any
characteristics of good writing from this list? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment, and keep writing.

Defining Creative Writing

You might have heard it called different things. Traditionally referred to as literature, creative writing is an art of sorts - the art of making things up. It's
writing done in a way that is not academic or technical but still attracts an audience. Though the definition is rather loose, creative writing can for the
most part be considered any writing that is original and self-expressive. A news article, for example, cannot be considered creative writing because its
main goal is to present facts and not to express the feelings of the writer. While a news article can be entertaining, its main purpose is to present the
facts.
The purpose of creative writing is to both entertain and share human experience, like love or loss. Writers attempt to get at a truth about humanity
through poetics and storytelling. If you'd like to try your hand at creative writing, just keep in mind that whether you are trying to express a feeling or a
thought, the first step is to use your imagination.
Types of creative writing include:

 Poetry
 Plays
 Movie and television scripts
 Fiction (novels, novellas, and short stories)
 Songs
 Speeches
 Memoirs
 Personal essays
As you can see, some nonfiction types of writing can also be considered creative writing. Memoirs and personal essays, for example, can be written
creatively to inform your readers about your life in an expressive way. Because these types are written in first person, it's easier for them to be creative.
Techniques used in creative writing include:

 Character development
 Plot development
 Vivid setting
 Underlying theme
  Point of view
 Dialogue
 Anecdotes
 Metaphors and similes
 Figures of speech
 Imaginative language
 Emotional appeal
 Heavy description

Examples of Creative Writing

Poetry and Songs

A poem or a song tends to be more elusive, or mysterious, because it has limited space. Because of its spatial limitations, however, it can make leaps in
subject and time, and it doesn't have to rely on narrative structure. In poetry and songs, literary devices, like similes and metaphors, can be used to take
the readers to surprising places. A good example of this is the opening of the poem 'A Life' by Sylvia Plath:
'Touch it: it won't shrink like an eyeball,

Features of academic writing

Introduction

Try this exercise.

Academic writing in English is linear, which means it has one central point or theme with every part contributing to the main line of argument, without
digressions or repetitions. Its objective is to inform rather than entertain. As well as this it is in the standard written form of the language.There are ten
main features of academic writing that are often discussed. Academic writing is to some extent: complex, formal, objective, explicit, hedged, and
responsible. It uses language precisely and accurately. It is also well organised and planned.
Complexity

Written language is relatively more complex than spoken language. Written language has longer words, it is lexically more dense and it has a more
varied vocabulary. It uses more noun-based phrases than verb-based phrases. Written texts are shorter and the language has more grammatical
complexity, including more subordinate clauses and more passives.

Complexity
Formality

Academic writing is relatively formal. In general this means that in an essay you should avoid colloquial words and expressions.

Formality
Precision

In academic writing, facts and figures are given precisely.

Precision
Objectivity

Written language is in general objective rather than personal. It therefore has fewer words that refer to the writer or the reader. This means that the main
emphasis should be on the information that you want to give and the arguments you want to make, rather than you. For that reason, academic writing
tends to use nouns (and adjectives), rather than verbs (and adverbs).

Objectivity
Explicitness

Academic writing is explicit about the relationships int he text. Furthermore, it is the responsibility of the writer in English to make it clear to the reader
how the various parts of the text are related. These connections can be made explicit by the use of different signalling words.

Explicitness
Accuracy

Academic writing uses vocabulary accurately. Most subjects have words with narrow specific meanings. Linguistics distinguishes clearly between
"phonetics" and "phonemics"; general English does not.

Accuracy
Hedging

In any kind of academic writing you do, it is necessary to make decisions about your stance on a particular subject, or the strength of the claims you are
making. Different subjects prefer to do this in different ways.

A technique common in certain kinds of academic writing is known by linguists as a ‘hedge’.

Hedging
Responsibility

In academic writing you must be responsible for, and must be able to provide evidence and justification for, any claims you make. You are also
responsible for demonstrating an understanding of any source texts you use.

Responsibility
Organisation

Academic writing is well organised. It flows easily from one section to the next in a logical fashion. A good place to start is the genre of your text. Once
you have decided on the genre, the structure is easily determined..

Organisation
Planning

Academic writing is well planned. It usually takes place after research and evaluation, according to a specific purpose and plan.

Planning

What is Creative Writing

WHAT IS CREATIVE WRITING?
The word creative is defined in various ways. The following are just some of the definitions:
“The ability to create”
“Imaginative”
“Productive and imaginative”
“Characterised by expressiveness and originality”
Creative writing is often defined as the writing of fiction, where the author creates events, scenes and characters, sometimes even a world. In reality, aside from
instinctive utterances like the yelp of an injured child or a delighted ‘Oh!’, all expressions are creative.

Learn more -Creative Writing Course On Line

Extract from our Creative Writing Course:

HOW DOES CREATIVE WRITING DIFFER?
Is creative writing different from other kinds of writing? As stated before all writing involves creativity since it is selective and is written from the writer’s
perspective. Like informative writing, expositions (detailed statements or explanations) or instructions, creative writing does convey information, even when
we define it so broadly; indeed, information is the basic component of all communication, no matter what kind.

The overall intent of creative writing is not to inform.

It is to stir the emotions, to elicit an emotional response.

A storyteller’s narrative is designed to express the storyteller’s feelings about some aspect of life, and to engage the reader in those feelings. A poet uses
events, images and people to deliver concentrated emotion. Dramatists and screen writers convey and stir emotions through action and dialogue. A
magazine feature writer comments on real people and real lives to arouse our sympathy, delight, horror or concern.

Information and creativity

The point is that almost any genre or category of writing can be written to engage the reader emotionally as well as intellectually. What makes a work more
creative than informative is its emphasis.

Informative writing is primarily about imparting knowledge.

Creative writing is primarily about creating emotional effect and significance.

Differences between creative and informative writing are sometimes quite blurred. Some well-known and esteemed pieces of writing that
are primarily informative are also very creative, sensitive and beautiful, while some primarily creative works are also highly informative. To understand this
better, read a chapter from A.S. Byatt’s novel, Possession, Tolstoy’s War and Peace, Dee Brown’s history, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, and James
Mitchener’s epic novel, Hawaii. You will also see writing where creativity and information carry equal weight and importance in some newspaper feature
articles, often found in the centre pages of the weekend editions, and in many magazine articles.

Good creative writing uses the same kinds of writing that make for good informative writing, or good argument, or good exposition. It is the writer’s skill at
using these forms of writing that can turn any piece of writing into creative piece of writing.

Even when we write fiction, we are dealing with reality as we know it. Fictional does not mean false. It takes our reality, or parts of it, and shows it to us
in new ways. It makes the familiar unfamiliar, and takes us into parts of reality, making us take the time (because we read much slower than we think or
see) to see its complexity, beauty and pain. Even fantasy fiction and science fiction, which give us totally created worlds, are based on elements of
reality, and are therefore recognisable and believable. Therefore, when we write creatively, it doesn’t matter whether we are writing fiction or non-fiction.
What matters is that we are sharing experiences and emotions with the reader and, for a while at least, leading them towards a particular point of view.
CREATIVE GENRES
 Genre is a word often used to describe categories or types of written text. Some of the more familiar genres of creative writing are:

 poetry of all kinds

 short stories
 novels, including westerns, romances, science fiction, detective stories, mysteries, fantasy, etc.
 stage play scripts
 film and television screenplays
 lyrics

Other genres that we may not think of as creative writing are:

 magazine articles
 newspaper feature stories
 essays
 biographies
 advertisements
 card greetings
 books or articles on science, history etc.

POEtry
Every poet can benefit from writing exercises because they give you the opportunity to brainstorm and practice new forms. For beginners, poetry
exercises are a good way to learn how to write poetry. For poets who have been writing for awhile, these exercises can help refresh your style. Writing
exercises can also be fun, like allowing your imagination an afternoon at the playground. You never know—a spectacular poem may be born out of a
simple writing exercise.
Pull out your notebook, journal, laptop, or whatever you use to write. Some of these exercises can be completed at home, but others force you to head
out to a public place (unless you have a fabulous view of a busy street or the doings of your neighbors).

Exercise #1 – Lists
This exercise requires you write a title at the top of your page, and then create a list down to the bottom of the page. You may find the beginnings of a
poem, or a wonderful line, in some of your lists. Here are some examples taken from one of my old journals:

Frustrations-
 Feeling tired
 Not having enough time
 Being misunderstood
 Not able to speak clearly
 Having a disagreement
 Being late
 Feeling incompetent
 Feeling depressed

Firsts-
 The first time…I was scared when home alone;
 First time I felt comfortable crying in public;
 First time we kissed;
 First time we kissed and it meant something;
 First apartment, the craziness;
 First time I said, “I love you;”
 First time someone told me “I love you;”
 First pair of glasses, with the black frames;
 First hangover…oh, yeah…
Make a list of fears, losses, happy memories, accomplishments, dreams—whatever you can think of. Take some of the ideas from these lists, and see if
you can expand upon them. Example: “Feeling tired, like an ant trying to get somewhere with a rock in its.” Or, “Incompetent feels like a fish in a bowl,
always swimming, but hitting nothing but glass.”
All of these lists are opportunities for a poem.

Exercise #2 – Making Similes

Look through a book of poems you like, and find a few similes to use as inspiration. Now go someplace where you can observe nature, people, traffic, or
something. Based on what you notice, begin listing some similes. They don’t have to make complete sense. Don’t think about what else you would write
with them. Just write whatever you think of.
Some inspiring similes I’ve written in my journal:
“Sounds of leaves moving overhead like so many whispered conversations.” –Jane Kenyon
“He slumps like the very meaning of surrender.” –Ted Kooser
“Lawyers encircled the farm like a fence.” –Ted Kooser
Now, start making your own. Some from my journal:
Ivy creeping like silent footsteps.
A breeze gentle as a child wakening.
Leaves rustling like distant voices.
Leaves falling like men on a battlefield.
Breath from her mouth like a wave of sea water.

Go back and read what you wrote to see where the opportunities are. Sometimes, you simply need to close your journal. Come back to the
list another day, with fresh

Exercise #3 – Sensory Observations

Poetry is truly indefinable, but there are a lot of things poetry can do. It can describe a feeling, make a reader see a sight, help you smell a smell, and
make something inanimate come to life. Sometimes, a poet has trouble finding ways to describe what she wants to express. This exercise will help you
stop and pay attention to the smaller things around you. Go out into the world, and make observations. Wherever you go, make five sensory
observations for each sense.
Examples from my journals:
At Elliot Bay tonight, I see…white, square tiles; the backs of strangers; endless rows of books; a lonely microphone; shadows of chairs.
I hear…chattering voices; espresso machines whirring and fizzing; dishes clattering, softly, just clinking together; laughter; the crinkle of newspapers.
I feel…brick wall under my arm; a warm cup in my hand; hot air blowing against my face; the hard seat against my bottom; a wooden curve across my
back.
I smell…coffee, mm; my plum chap stick (smells better than it tastes); used books; cinnamon; baking bread.
I taste…a soft coffee flavor; a hint of honey; the thickness of hot air; the ink of a fresh pen; more coffee.
You can do this exercise anywhere at anytime. Try it on the bus, at work, in a classroom, on a park bench. You may be surprised at the observations
you make, and the opportunities for poetry that you find.

Exercise #4 – Describing a Scene or Picture

Either choose a physical place to observe, or find an interesting picture, and fully describe everything you experience. Don’t forget to include all of the
senses, but also describe any action taking places. Get nitty gritty about the details—don’t leave anything out.
Afterwards, go through what you have written to see what stands out. Some detail, description, or word might be the beginning of a poem. You can also
try to write a quick poem based on solely on the scene you choose.

Exercise #5 – Making Metaphors

This is actually a really fun, imaginative exercise. You are going to make three columns of lists, one for adjectives, one for concrete nouns, and one for
abstract nouns. After you have filled at least one page with these lists, you will create another list: of metaphors. Take a word from each list to create
your metaphor.
An excerpt from one of my journals:
Adjectives:
 Scrambled
 Empty
 Withered
 Sour
 Dark
Concrete Nouns:
 Outlet
 Doghouse
 Medicine
 Hook
 Clock
Abstract Nouns:
 Sadness
 Grief
 Apology
 Hope
 Anxiety
Metaphors:
The empty outlet of anxiety.
The withered doghouse of grief.
The empty medicine of hope.
What do you see in your metaphors? Are there opportunities for poems?
Don’t be afraid to alter or trash any of the ideas you come up with while doing poetry exercises. It is perfectly normal for a lot of what you write to be crap
(one of my metaphors was “the marbled doghouse of apology” – huh?), but there will also be a lot of gems. Writing exercises offer you opportunities to
practice and brainstorm. The more you write, the better you will be at finding what works.

Figurative Language
Definition of Figurative Language

Figurative language uses figures of speech to be more effective, persuasive, and impactful. Figures of speech such as metaphors, similes, and allusions
go beyond the literal meanings of the words to give readers new insights. On the other hand, alliterations, imageries, or onomatopoeias are figurative
devices that appeal to the senses of the readers.
Figurative language can appear in multiple forms with the use of different literary and rhetorical devices. According to Merriam Webster’s Encyclopedia,
figurative language has five different forms:

1. Understatement or Emphasis
2. Relationship or Resemblance
3. Figures of Sound
4. Errors and
5. Verbal Games
Types of Figurative Language

The term figurative language covers a wide range of literary devices and techniques, a few of which include:

 Simile
 Metaphor
 Personification
 Onomatopoeia
 Oxymoron
 Hyperbole
 Allusion
 Idiom
 Imagery
 Symbolism
 Alliteration
 Assonance
 Consonance
 Metonymy
 Synecdoche
 Irony
 Sarcasm
 Litotes
 Pun
 Anaphora
 Tautology
 Understatement
Short Examples of Figurative Language
Similes

 His friend is as black as coal.

 He has learned gymnastics, and is as agile as a monkey.
 When attacked in his home, he will fight like a caged tiger.
 Can you dance like a monkey?
 Even when he was told everything, he was acting like a donkey.
Metaphor

 My friend is a Shakespeare when in English class.

 He was a roaring lion in anger, though now he is silent.
 They seem like jackals when running in fear.
 Kisses are roses in the spring.
 This world is a sea of anonymous faces.
Images

 The house stood half-demolished and abandoned.

 He left with his haunted and spell-bound face.
 He did not like the odorless and colorless shape of water.
 His friend was looking at spooky glissando twangs.
 Zigzag fissures in the land made him look for snakes.
Assonance

 The light on the site did not let him see the sight.
 He heard the sound of the fire, like wire striking the air.
 This artificial stream is going to flow to the downtown of the town.
 Please set the kite right.
  Might of the fright seems greater than the actual fear.
Consonance

 He lets the pink ball fall with a tall man.

 They have not learned how to catch the cat.
 Get a seat with a treat in our local hall.
 Calling the cow an ox is like putting the cart before the horse.
 He saw the pink kite floating past the tall trees.
Paradox

 He is dying with his untrustworthy belief.

 Sharply blunt razor cannot do anything to you.
 Kindly cruel treatment made him flabbergasted.
 Please, watch with closed eyes and you will see the heaven.
 Creatively dull person cannot do anything in his life.
Metonymy

 The Pentagon is located in Washington in the United States.

 The Hollywood is a home of English movies.
 10 Downing Street is located in London.
 Buckingham Palace is world’s oldest symbol of democracy.
 The White House.
Synecdoche

 He does not know how to behave with the special people.

 He is looking at his own grey hair and his agility.
 They saw a fleet of fifty.
 At this time, he owns nine head of cattle.
 The new generation is addicted to the use of plastic money.
Examples of Figurative Language from Literature
Example #1: The Base Stealer (By Robert Francis)
Simile

Poised between going on and back, pulled

Both ways taut like a tight-rope walker,

Now bouncing tiptoe like a dropped ball,

Or a kid skipping rope, come on, come on! …

Taunts them, hovers like an ecstatic bird,

He’s only flirting, crowd him, crowd him,

The similes and word choice of this poem makes it a masterpiece. The poet use similes between the lines to depict his scattered thoughts before taking
action, and makes comparison as, “like a tight-rope,” “like a dropped ball,” and “hovers like an ecstatic bird.”
Example #2: I Know Why the Cage Bird Sings (By Maya Angelou)
Metaphor

But a BIRD that stalks down his narrow cage

Can seldom see through his bars of rage
His wings are clipped and his feet are tied
The caged bird sings with a fearful trill …
And his tune is heard on the distant hill for
The caged bird sings of freedom.

The entire poem is rich with metaphor as a bird in a cage represents a group of people who are oppressed and cannot get freedom. The cage
represents physical barriers, fear, addiction, or society; while the song of the bird represents true self yearning for something greater in life.
Example #3: She Sweeps with Many-Colored Brooms (By Emily Dickinson)
Personification

She sweeps with many-colored Brooms

And leaves the Shreds behind
Oh Housewife in the Evening West
Come back, and dust the Pond!

Dickinson uses personification of a housewife to describe the sunset in the very first line of this poem. She is using a sweeping housewife who does her
daily work, likewise the rays of the setting sun sweep away beneath the horizon.
Example #4: The Raven (By Edgar Allen Poe)
Alliteration

Once upon a midnight dreary while I pondered weak and weary;

rare and radiant maiden;
And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain …
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.

Poe uses alliteration by repeating the /w/ sound to emphasize the weariness of the narrator, and then /r/ and /s/ sounds in the second and third lines
respectively. In the last two lines, the /d/ sound highlights the narrator’s hopelessness.
Example #5: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (By Samuel Taylor Coleridge)
Symbolism

Ah ! well a-day ! what evil looks

Had I from old and young !
Instead of the cross, the Albatross
About my neck was hung.

In these lines, the albatross symbolizes a big mistake, or a burden of sin, just like the cross on which Christ was crucified. Therefore, all people on the
ship agreed to slay that bird.
Example #6: The Bluest Eyes (By Toni Morrison)
Personification, Consonance, and Simile

She ran down the street, the green knee socks making her legs look like wild dandelion of stems that had somehow lost their heads. The weight of her
remark stunned us.

This excerpt uses different devices that make language figurative. There is a good use of simile, “legs look like wild dandelion;” and personification, “lost
their heads;” and use of consonance in “stunned us,” where the /s/ is a consonant sound.
Example #7: The Week of Diana (By Maya Angelou)
Metaphor, Consonance, Personification

“The dark lantern of world sadness has cast its shadow upon the land.
We stumble into our misery on leaden feet.”

In just these two lines, Maya Angelou has used a metaphor of the dark lantern, consonance of the /s/ sounds, and personification of misery.
Example #8: The Negro Speaks of River (By Langston Hughes)
Consonance, Simile

“I’ve known rivers:

I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.”

This prince of the Harlem Renaissance has beautifully used a different type of consonance with the /l/ sound and a simile of “my soul.”
Example #9: Musée des Beaux Arts (By W. H. Auden)
Personification, Consonance

That even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course

Anyhow in a corner, some untidy spot
Where the dogs go on with their doggy W. H. Auden life and the torturer’s horse
Scratches its innocent behind on a tree.

W. H. Auden has used a personification of the “dreadful martyrdom,” and consonances of “some untidy spot,” with the /s/ sound, and “dogs go on with
their doggy life,” with the /d/ and /g/ sounds.
Function of Figurative Language

The primary function of figurative language is to force readers to imagine what a writer wants to express. Figurative language is not meant to convey
literal meanings, and often it compares one concept with another in order to make the first concept easier to understand. However, it links the two ideas
or concepts with the goal of influencing the audience to understand the link, even if it does not exist.

Poets and prose writers use this technique to bring out emotions and help their readers form images in their minds. Thus, figurative language is a useful
way of conveying an idea that readers cannot understand otherwise, due to its complex and abstract nature. In addition, it helps in analyzing a literary
text.
Imagery
Definition of Imagery

Imagery means to use figurative language to represent objects, actions, and ideas in such a way that it appeals to our physical senses.
Usually it is thought that imagery makes use of particular words that create visual representation of ideas in our minds. The word “imagery” is associated
with mental pictures. However, this idea is but partially correct. Imagery, to be realistic, turns out to be more complex than just a picture. Read the
following examples of imagery carefully:

 It was dark and dim in the forest.

The words “dark” and “dim” are visual images.
 The children were screaming and shouting in the fields.
“Screaming” and “shouting” appeal to our sense of hearing, or auditory sense.
 He whiffed the aroma of brewed coffee.
“Whiff” and “aroma” evoke our sense of smell, or olfactory sense.
 The girl ran her hands on a soft satin fabric.
The idea of “soft” in this example appeals to our sense of touch, or tactile sense.
 The fresh and juicy orange is very cold and sweet.
“Juicy” and “sweet” – when associated with oranges – have an effect on our sense of taste, or gustatory sense.

Imagery needs the aid of figures of speech like simile, metaphor, personification, and onomatopoeia, in order to appeal to the bodily senses. Let us
analyze how famous poets and writers use imagery in literature.
Short Examples of Imagery

1. The old man took the handful of dust, and sifted it through his fingers.
2. The starry night sky looked so beautiful that it begged him to linger, but he reluctantly left for home.
3. The fragrance of spring flowers made her joyful.
4. The sound of a drum in the distance attracted him.
5. The people traveled long distances to watch the sunset in the north.
6. The stone fell with a splash in the lake.
7. The sound of bat hitting the ball was pleasing to his ear.
8. The chirping of birds heralded spring.
9. There lay refuse heaps on their path that were so smelly that it maddened them.
10. The silence in the room was unnerving.
11. The blind man touched the tree to learn if its skin was smooth or rough.
12. When he was on the way to work, he heard the muffled cry of a woman.
13. The beacons of moonlight bathed the room in ethereal light.
14. The wild gusts of cold wind pierced her body.
15. The burger, aromatic with spices, made his mouth water in anticipation of the first bite.
Imagery Examples in Literature
Example #1: Romeo and Juliet (By William Shakespeare)

Imagery of light and darkness is repeated many times in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Consider an example from Act I, Scene V:

“O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!

It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night
Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope’s ear …”

Romeo praises Juliet by saying that she appears more radiant than the brightly lit torches in the hall. He says that at night her face glows like a bright
jewel shining against the dark skin of an African. Through the contrasting images of light and dark, Romeo portrays Juliet’s beauty.
Example #2: To Autumn (By John Keats)
John Keats’ To Autumn is an ode rich with auditory imagery examples. In the last five lines of his ode he says:

“Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;

And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft,
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.”

The animal sounds in the above excerpt keep appealing to our sense of hearing. We hear the lamb bleating and the crickets chirping. We hear the
whistles of the redbreast robin and the twitters of swallows in the skies. Keats call these sounds the song of autumn.
Example #3: Once More to the Lake (By E. B. White)

In prose, imagery aids writers to accomplish a vivid description of events. Below is an example of an effective use of imagery from E. B. White’s Once
More to the Lake:

“When the others went swimming my son said he was going in, too. He pulled his dripping trunks from the line where they had hung all through the
shower and wrung them out. Languidly, and with no thought of going in, I watched him, his hard little body, skinny and bare, saw him wince slightly as he
pulled up around his vitals the small, soggy, icy garment. As he buckled the swollen belt, suddenly my groin felt the chill of death.”

The images depicting the dampness of clothes, in the above lines, convey a sense of the chilly sensation that we get from wet clothes.
Example #4: Great Expectations (By Charles Dickens)

In Great Expectations, written by Charles Dickens, Pip (the hero of the novel) uses many images to describe a damp morning in a marsh:
“It was a rimy morning, and very damp. I had seen the damp lying on the outside of my little window… Now, I saw the damp lying on the bare hedges
and spare grass, … On every rail and gate, wet lay clammy; and the marsh-mist was so thick, that the wooden finger on the post directing people to our
village—a direction which they never accepted, for they never came there—was invisible to me until I was quite close under it.”

The repeated use of the words “damp” and “wet” makes us feel how miserable it was for him that damp and cold morning. The thick “marsh-mist” aids
our imagination to visualize the scene of morning in a marshland.
Example #5: Goodbye Mr. Chips (By James Hilton)

“Brookfield he had liked, almost from the beginning. He remembered that day of his preliminary interview—sunny June, with the air full of flower
scents and the plick-plock of cricket on the pitch. Brookfield was playing Barnhurst, and one of the Barnhurst boys, a chubby little fellow, made a
brilliant century. Queer that a thing like that should stay in the memory so clearly.”

This is an excellent example of the use of imagery in Goodbye Mr. Chips by James Hilton. First the word sunny refers to the visual imagery. The flower
scent refers to the sense of smell, and then the plick-plock refers to the sense of hearing.
Example #6: Daffodils (By William Wordsworth)

“I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.”

This is a very good example of imagery in Wordsworth’s Daffodils. The poet uses the sense of sight to create a host of golden daffodils beside the lake.
Their fluttering and dancing also refers to the sight.
Example #7: Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening (By Robert Frost)

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep … “

Robert Frost uses visual imagery in these lines of his famous poem as, “the woods are lovely, dark and deep.”
Example #8: My November Guest (By Robert Frost)

“My Sorrow, when she’s here with me,

Thinks these dark days of autumn rain
Are beautiful as days can be;
She loves the bare, the withered tree;
She walked the sodden pasture lane.”

This poem by Robert Frost is yet another good example of imagery. In the second line, the poet uses dark days, which is an instance of the use of visual
imagery. In the fourth line, the bare, withered tree uses the imagery of sight. In the fifth line, the sodden pasture is also an instance of tactile imagery.
Function of Imagery

The function of imagery in literature is to generate a vibrant and graphic presentation of a scene that appeals to as many of the reader’s senses as
possible. It aids the reader’s imagination to envision the characters and scenes in the literary piece clearly. Apart from the above-mentioned function,
images drawn by using figures of speech like metaphor, simile, personification, and onomatopoeia, serve the function of beautifying a piece of literature.