Lost
Imagery becomes essential in setting the tone and atmosphere as well as pure description of getting lost in the dark. Darkness, of course, is used just as often metaphorically as it is literally in fiction and the imagery here is a means of using the literal to set up the metaphor that is coming:
“The storm raged on. Darkness fell and Benjamin could barely see more than five yards in front of his face. The narrow, winding lands seemed endless. There were no cars anymore, and he hadn’t seen another walker for at least an hour. He was hopelessly lost. In the unbroken darkness, as the sharp arrows of rain drove stingingly into his eyes, he couldn’t have said whether the mountains lay to his left, or the ocean to his right. Even these, the most obvious landmarks, had been obliterated by the elements.”
Writing Music
Ever try to write music? Not the notes that compose the sound being played, but prose that describes the music being played. Not as easy as one might think since the purpose in attempting this is not providing one’s impression, but actually conveying to a reader the experience of hearing music. Imagery is essential:
“Seascape No. 4 was a bittersweet composition lasting about four minutes, song-like in form, with the guitar playing an erratic, plangent melody over a gentle backwash of minor chords ebbing and flowing on a piano. After the verse-chorus structure had run its course, everything dissolved into a wash of lazy, wistful improvisation.”
Why Censorship isn't all Bad
In the old days before everything that could be written would be written, authors were forced to engage imagery to describe certain things which—as useful as they might be—were not really subjects for polite conversation. Or straightforward, graphic description. The following example is self-explanatory enough to reveal that a little censorship isn’t necessarily a bad thing; it often inspires the imagination rather than obstructing it:
“he was the proud owner of a quite colossal member, which on the many awestruck occasions it had been exposed to public view had been compared variously to a giant frankfurter, an overfed python, a length of led piping, the trunk of a rogue elephant, a barrage balloon, an airport-sized Toblerone and a roll of wet wallpaper.”
Seriously: isn’t that much more fun to read than a four-letter word?
Colors
Colors, of course, are one of the foundations of imagery. All those various shades, hues, tones and such add up to become one of the writer’s greatest tools. Of course, in most cases, the writer goes for vibrancy. Only a very brave or a very confident writer indeed would expend effort using color imagery in this wise:
“The tables in which their faces were dimly reflected were dark brown, the darkest brown, the colour of Bournville chocolate. The walls were a lighter brown, the colour of Dairy Milk. The carpet was brown, with little hexagons of a slightly different brown, if you looked closely. The ceiling was meant to be off-white, but was in fact brown, browned by the nicotine smoke of a million unfiltered cigarettes. Most of the cars in the car park were brown, as were most of the clothes worn by the patrons."
