A picture may paint a thousand words, but sometimes only a few words is needed to create a masterpiece.

Being able to incorporate vivid images solely through the power of words says a lot, especially for someone who’s speciality is in photography. You’d think that an environment buried in war and despair would take a thousand sophisticated words to depict clearly, but Addario proves that it’s in fact quite unnecessary.

Part two of It’s What I Do is indubitably the most captivating portion of the novel. And while Addario seamlessly portrays the horror and the intense emotions she experiences directly in the war zone, it’s also the little details she’s able to express that tie in the entire journey. On pages ninety-six and ninety-seven, she provides her perception and impression of the circumstance of Paul’s death and how it was clear that the war was in full effect. By recollecting her memory in a precise manner, without the use of an over-cultivated or flowery diction, Addario is able to illustrate the scene clearly while still retaining the heavy emotion.

Another valuable technique is her ability to smoothy add rhetorical questions as well as her other internal thoughts to appeal to the personal connection the reader can make. By being placed in Addario’s mind, not only can we visualize her environment, but we can feel her emotions as well. Her lengthy syntax indicates the anxiety she was feeling at the time and how her mind went through a million thoughts a minute. Followed then by her epiphany and internal resolution in a short and abrupt four words; the anxiety turns to fear when she realizes “the war had begun.”

It’s easy to write in a casual tone, but to be able to maintain that intimate sense of familiarity while still being able to convey extensive emotions is something I hope I can achieve in my own blog. It’s important that the reader isn’t lost in ornate words, especially when they’re reading on a topic they may not know much about, such as theatre. I know that to be able to excite my audience into wanting more, like Addario does, I need to keep my descriptions clear, while still impassioned.  So, in that case, I need not ramble on much further about my efforts to become a captivating writer, it’s time to put my skills to the test. Head over to my passion blog to see these techniques (hopefully) in full effect!