The Art of Seeing

A chill winter morning brings a dusting of snow like ashes, a blush across the clouds, a roseate tinge to the bare branches of the maples, as if the world has come into being for the first time, in a long time.

These days are often lived in a fog of activity, a blur. Yet, the writer, as continually aspiring artist, is called not only to look but to see. What is the difference, and why does it make a difference?

Looking is the beginning of seeing, but only the beginning, the precursor, the prelude, as if looking were more concerned with the pragmatic than the soul, the heart.

Seeing takes in — the sting of winter, the dusting of snow on cartops and rooftops, the glow of sunrise — and transforms it into experience. This taking in enables the writer to experience. And experience, when inspired, can become aesthetic, can become art. Without experience, there is insufficient influence on the depths of the creative being.

During a recent meeting with a colleague on the privileges and perils of writing and publication, it quickly became clear we agreed. We don’t sell our wares. We offer our art to the world, however large or small, as a child offers a drawing that can speak more than words of the realities of life.

At the close of the meeting, my colleague and I agreed that despite the woes of bringing a book into today’s world, we will still do readings, seek reviews, attend festivals, speak at gatherings. But we will do these things not in the consumptive manner of today but with the mind and heart of the continual apprentice of the artists’ guilds that produced the master crafters and masterworks still esteemed after the passing of time.

In Unless It Moves the Human Heart: The Craft and Art of Writing, author and teacher Roger Rosenblatt noted, “For your writing to be great…it must be useful to the world. And for that to happen you must form an opinion of the world. And for that to happen you need to observe the world, closely and steadily, with a mind open to change. And for that to happen you have to live in the world, and not pretend that it is someone else’s world you are writing about.”

Rosenblatt’s challenge to the writer, the artist, is to not only love and care for the world, broken as it is, but to love the world because the world is worth loving. And for this to happen the writer must not only look but see, not only see but experience, even if experience brings pain, for, “Nothing you write will mater unless it moves the human heart…” [Rosenblatt, att. A.D. Hope]

Application:

• Go to a place that enables you to see — a window, park bench, lakeside log, backyard.
• Stop. Look. Wait.
• Stopping means taking time.
• Looking means opening the eyes and the heart.
• Waiting means allowing what is taken in to become experience.

Adele Annesi is an award-winning author, editor and teacher. For questions on writing, email Adele Annesi. Adele’s new novel is What She Takes Away (Bordighera Press, 2023).

Use Techniques from Film to Enhance Your Fiction

If you watch movies on venues like Amazon Prime, you’ve probably seen the X-Ray feature that includes information alongside the film to help viewers understand the story and how the film was made. Paying attention to filmmakers’ techniques also can invigorate your stories, characters and scenes. Knowing a few basic film concepts will further enhance your viewing experience and your ability to use these same concepts in your writing.

Cutaway
A cutaway is a shot that steps away from the main action of the moment. The aim is to create suspense, add information and/or pose a question. To implement this technique in your work, ask yourself:

• At what point in a scene or the overall story can I organically use this technique to enhance the overall work and the reader’s experience?
• Did I remember to return to that moment at the right place later in the story to complete the scene and/or answer the question?

Double Reveal
A reveal is an insight, a revelation or new information that impacts the characters and the direction of the story. A double reveal propels plot and reveals characters the way a solid rocket booster thrusts a spacecraft from initial launch through ascent into orbit by allowing the protagonist(s) and the opposing character(s) to gain crucial insights into themselves and each other through direct conflict. To implement this technique, ask yourself:

• What kind of conflict do the characters in this scene need to spark a major revelation?
• What will they learn from this that they can’t learn any other way?
• How will these new insights change each person’s life and the overall story?

Dramatic
Arc Dramatic arc is the shape, path and direction of the story’s action and conflict. The aim here is to create a framework for the development of the story and the characters. To implement this technique:

• Chart the action of your story, and ask yourself what shape you see, for example, a bell curve or a sharp initial rise in action then a long, steady decline. Where is there a lag?
• Also ask yourself how the dramatic arc complements and/or contrasts with the character arc(s).

Jump Cut
A jump cut is a scene cut in two, with a section removed, that enables the story to move forward faster and/or smoother than if all the information were supplied. To implement this technique, ask yourself:

• Does the scene or section still feel complete, with all the essential elements?
• Is there still sufficient clarity to avoid confusing the reader?

Montage
A montage is an editing technique that orders a series of images to condense space, time and information to enhance drama. Types of montages:

• Metric montages sequence images to the beat of music, for example, to increase suspense.
• Rhythmic montages cut the images based on musical pacing.
• Tonal montages cut the images based on their emotional tone and the emotional tone of the overall scene to create a mood and/or spark emotions from the audience.
• Intellectual montages place different images together to prompt viewers to infer meaning from what they see and to respond emotionally.
• Overtonal montages combine all of the above to evoke emotions from the audience and compel deep thinking. 

Suspense
Suspense creates sense of excitement, fear or uncertainty about the events or characters in the story in a way that enhances viewer interest and sets up what comes next. To implement this technique, ask yourself:

• Where in the story can I organically enhance an existing scene by setting it up for one outcome and providing another?
• Where in the story or a scene can I create a concern or question in the reader’s mind and withhold the outcome or answer to the question?

If you enjoy films, you can enjoy them more and make better use of your viewing experience by learning how the film was made. Learning more about the craft and art of moviemaking can also give you new direction as a writer and breathe new life into your stories, characters and scenes.

To learn more about how film techniques enhance fiction, check out:
Cinematic Story & Character Techniques for Fiction and Memoir - Online and In-Person
With acclaimed director Joanne Hudson, founder of the Ridgefield Independent Film Festival, and award-winning writer and novelist Adele Annesi.

Cinematic Story & Character Techniques for Fiction and Memoir
Date: Saturday, February 11
Time: 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Venue: Hybrid in-person (at Westport Writers’ Workshop) and online (via Zoom)
Price: $80.00

For questions, email Adele Annesi. Adele’s new novel is What She Takes Away (Bordighera Press, 2023).