Weekly Writing Exercise: Startling Descriptions

From my book: Writing through the Fog

Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.

~ Anton Chekhov

Startling Descriptions

Choose something specific – the colors of the morning sky or the roughness of a cat’s tongue or the sly smile of the gas station clerk – and describe it in the freshest, most unexpected, most honest way you can. Sure, the birches turning golden in the backyard are tall and yellow and shivering in the wind, but could they also be described as gangling, towheaded boys, snickering and defying winter? Can you describe a dog’s snore or the quiet whoosh of a door closing in a way that hasn’t been done before?