Organic Imagery is perhaps the most puzzling of all the types of imagery because feelings and emotions are completely subjective. Writers are tasked with explaining sensations that are often only in the minds of the characters.
The trick with creating awesome organic imagery is to think about constructing a visual and tangible equivalent to these otherwise intangible experiences. So, get young writers asking “What does it look like on the outside?”If someone is angry, what do they look like? Furrowed brows? Narrowed eyes? Heavy breathing that causes the chest to heave up and down? Clenched fists? Pursed lips?
Young writers should also think about showing emotions and sensations through behaviour. Continuing with the example of the angry individual, what do they do? Slam doors? Stomp off? Become violent?
Then there’s an often neglected component of describing feelings and sensations – internal experiences. This is the most subjective part, but it adds a beautiful depth to the description that makes it worthwhile. When describing what happens on the inside, writers will often have to make use of comparisons to get the point across. So they should use similies and metaphors, but they should also describe the actual sensation. Again, following our angry person, perhaps they can be described as having the anger boiling within them and then spilling out. Or even rising up their necks into their face, causing the physical reactions described earlier.
A combination of these three strategies would yield the best results. “I had never seen him so angry. The anger seemed to boil in him until he looked like he was going to explode with rage. He balled up his fists and charged behind the other boy. His jaw was tense, eyes narrowed, and the hunch in his shoulders told me he was ready to fight. I wasn’t the only one who noticed. The other children on the playground began gathering around, shouting, “Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!”
Just as with all other types of imagery and descriptive language, observing what people do and say in situations helps to build a foundation upon which writers can draw from.
