How to Create Vivid Imagery and Mood

Working on revisions again -- still. And I thought I'd share one technique I use to weave in specific imagery  and create a particular mood for the reader. It's just a list of words, in this case, agricultural words that I might use to reflect the point I am trying to make, namely that Jefferson grew a nation. You can be fancy and call it an image system, 'cause it's the same thing - a list.

I won't use every word on the list. That would be overkill. The list just reminds me of what I can do if I find myself using dull words like use, sent, or did. Instead, TJ can harness, or scatter, or cultivate....  My mother used to do this when she wrote poetry, and I'm still finding pages with word lists on them. Sometimes I can tell which project she was working on by the words - creepy, crawly words for the Big Bug Book, holey words for a poem about animals that dig. 

Exercise: Make your own word list for the project you're working on now.  Think of the connections you want to make. What is your subject matter?  Use a thesaurus to get you started, but don't stop there. Go heavy on verbs because they carry the action and will be most useful. 

You'll reap a more vivid text that blooms with multiple layers of meaning.