Meg Gardiner has been blogging about how she makes her novels “cinematic” by writing to the five senses. I, too, have written about writing with the senses, a talent that draws your readers into the story, as the words on the page become more than mere words and entice visual imagery.

Today, write about adding new bits and pieces to your writing to give more information to your reader—by using nouns in an interesting way. Here’s an easy way to improve your writing by simply concentrating on the visuals of each sentence.

First, reread your piece, paying close attention to any opportunity for visuals in your sentences. Find the nouns that you could improve to give more information to your reader. For example, in this sentence, there are several words I could expand on for greater impact:

• I put the food on the dish and carried it to the dining room.

How can I enrich this sentence? Here are some ideas:

• I put the food = I piled the sliced beef precariously on the platter
• and carried it to the dining room = and stepped gingerly into the dining room, carefully avoiding bumping into chairs or tipping the platter and spraying meat juice onto the guests

The sentence now reads: I piled the sliced beef precariously on to platter and stepped gingerly into the dining room, carefully avoiding bumping into chairs or tipping the platter and spraying meat juice onto the guests.

It’s as easy as that. If you envision what you are writing about, your reader will be able to envision, as well.

Here’s another example:

• Jerzy looked at Gladys and left the room. Gladys simply stared.

How might I enrich these sentences? Here are some ideas:

• Jerzy looked at Gladys = Jerzy pierced Gladys with a look of pure hatred
• and left the room = and stomped across the carpet to the door, slamming it behind him.
• Gladys simply stared = Gladys never blinked, unaware of any emotion wafting in his wake.

The greater imagery also provides more insight into emotions, without blatantly writing them out. Hatred, anger, and lack of empathy are implied by the stronger writing.

Review what you have written and see where you can strengthen imagery. It’s amazingly easy, and well worth any effort on your part to provide visual clues to your reader.