Better Than Texas

Here are today’s Wonderful Words:

It seems to me that Montana is a great splash of grandeur. The land is rich with grass and color, and the mountains are the kind I would create if mountains were ever put on my agenda. Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.

Travels with Charley In Search of America, John Steinbeck, page 158

Background

In the 1960s, John Steinbeck took a cross country road trip with his dog, Charley. He wanted to become better acquainted with America and Americans. This book is the story of his adventures.

What makes it wonderful?

When I was 12 years old, my family took a cross-country road trip. As young boys often do, I failed to appreciate the beauty before me, but there was one thing I couldn’t ignore.

As we crept quietly into Wyoming each passing mile brought us closer to majesty. I remember my Dad pointing out the Rockies when they were just specks on the horizon—barely visible bumps like birds on a telephone wire.

Lost in my Harry Potter book, I kept my head down. When I came up for air, the mountains towered over me. Just like Steinbeck said, they were the mountains I would create if mountains were ever put on my agenda.

Tall, spiky, snowcapped. They looked like something from a movie. They looked exactly how a mountain was supposed to look. Like what kids imagine when they’re drawing jagged horizons on sketch pads in art class.

I had only known the rolling hills of the Finger Lakes and the gentle peaks of the Adirondacks. But these, these were capital “M” mountains! This is how they were supposed to look.

What a way to describe mountains: the mountains I would create if mountains were ever put on my agenda.

You instantly know what he means, and he never mentioned the height, the shape, or the snow. He let you paint the picture.

Let's get technical

Steinbeck is the master of imagery, the art of descriptions so vivid they stimulate your senses to evoke a picture or a feeling.

He actually used it twice in this single passage. We covered the first example above, but the second is equally important.

Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.

My grandpa once told me a story of a politician from Texas bragging about his state. On and on he went about its size and superiority. A politician from Alaska overheard the commotion and stepped in to say, “If you don’t quiet down, I’ll have Alaska cut in half and make Texas the third largest state in the country.”

Point being, Texans talk about Texas like a mother talks about her son. They make it sound much better than it actually is.

In fact, they make it sound like Montana looks.

Steinbeck’s sentences on mountains and Texans bring the image of Montana clearly into the reader’s mind. We know exactly what Montana looks like from his wonderful words, even though he never truly told us.

If you can make your reader picture a scene without describing it in detail, they’ll enjoy it more. If you can float the right feelings into their mind, that’s all you’ll need to do. Their memory and imagination will finish the job.

Happy writing,

Joe

P.S. If you're trying to improve your imagery, you need to study Charlie Slack. Here's a great example.