Getting You Hooked
Judy Ramsook
August 07, 2006
When we meet people for the first time, they leave an impression on us. It could be bad, good, or indifferent, but it’s an impression nonetheless. Some people are drawn to a welcoming and friendly smile, others by the way certain individuals carry themselves, speak, dress or look.
Similarly, when writers are busy at work polishing what he or she will hope is the next masterpiece of our time, opening lines and sentences are also important.For not only is the writer trying to impress the reader, but he/she is also trying to get him/her involved by hooking him/her with the scene the writer has painted with words.
We have all done this from time to time; read the opening line or paragraph of a book while perusing the many titles at a local bookstore when in search of something new to read. If the buyer likes what he/she is reading, then he/she might consider purchasing a copy of that particular book.
It is then the writer of such a work will know he/she has indeed succeeded in hooking the reader with his/her opening line or paragraph, no matter how simple or complex that dramatic opening line may be. In the matter of paintings and sketches though, does the painter also face the same dilemna?
When viewing a piece of artwork such as a painting though, be it a sunset/sunrise scene or something else such as an assortment of fruit on a kitchen table, what is it that appeals to the viewer?
Obviously this is not a book, so there is no reading involved, just the painting before you and how it affects you and your senses, visual and otherwise.
Does the painting of the sunset/sunrise scene take you back to an earlier time when you and a friend, lover or mate were actually viewing such a scene in a real life setting?
While that is happening, does that particular work also make you feel rather nostalgic since you and the friend or lover have long parted company? With these things in mind, has the artist then succeeded in hooking you or drawing you into his/her work?
When viewing the painting with the fruits on the table, does that also take you back to a nostalgic period, say closer to home perhaps.
It could be the first home you once shared with your parents and or siblings and as this particular painting seems more family oriented, does it remind you of your parents or that first home? If so, has the painter succeeded in hooking or impressing you and your senses too?
If he or she has, then that artist has accomplished what he or she set out to achieve; hooking you with his/her poignant scene with the way he/she has captured your senses.
Whether the artist has managed to take you on a romantic trip through time or moved you in another way, he has managed to hook you, just like a writer of fiction does with his/her opening lines of a book.
Similarly, when writers are busy at work polishing what he or she will hope is the next masterpiece of our time, opening lines and sentences are also important.For not only is the writer trying to impress the reader, but he/she is also trying to get him/her involved by hooking him/her with the scene the writer has painted with words.
We have all done this from time to time; read the opening line or paragraph of a book while perusing the many titles at a local bookstore when in search of something new to read. If the buyer likes what he/she is reading, then he/she might consider purchasing a copy of that particular book.
It is then the writer of such a work will know he/she has indeed succeeded in hooking the reader with his/her opening line or paragraph, no matter how simple or complex that dramatic opening line may be. In the matter of paintings and sketches though, does the painter also face the same dilemna?
When viewing a piece of artwork such as a painting though, be it a sunset/sunrise scene or something else such as an assortment of fruit on a kitchen table, what is it that appeals to the viewer?
Obviously this is not a book, so there is no reading involved, just the painting before you and how it affects you and your senses, visual and otherwise.
Does the painting of the sunset/sunrise scene take you back to an earlier time when you and a friend, lover or mate were actually viewing such a scene in a real life setting?
While that is happening, does that particular work also make you feel rather nostalgic since you and the friend or lover have long parted company? With these things in mind, has the artist then succeeded in hooking you or drawing you into his/her work?
When viewing the painting with the fruits on the table, does that also take you back to a nostalgic period, say closer to home perhaps.
It could be the first home you once shared with your parents and or siblings and as this particular painting seems more family oriented, does it remind you of your parents or that first home? If so, has the painter succeeded in hooking or impressing you and your senses too?
If he or she has, then that artist has accomplished what he or she set out to achieve; hooking you with his/her poignant scene with the way he/she has captured your senses.
Whether the artist has managed to take you on a romantic trip through time or moved you in another way, he has managed to hook you, just like a writer of fiction does with his/her opening lines of a book.
Print
Email
