Ok consider this a follow up to last week’s letter because I’ve been thinking about word choice all WEEK. Going beyond strong verb choice, I realized the literary technique I prize above all else is what I’d call “synesthetic writing.”

Besides these TWO random articles, I couldn’t find anything else about this concept. Granted my google search lasted all of ten seconds. But not even this list of 112 literary devices on writers.com had it. WRITERS 👏🏼 DOT 👏🏼 COM 👏🏼 ! “Imagery” is the most similar, but it’s still too one-dimensional.

What I mean by "synesthetic writing” is word choice that sublimely gets our sensory wires crossed. Phrases like “an icy gaze” or “a scorching guitar solo” (examples taken from the Masterclass article). I’m no neuroscientist but I know multiple regions in our brain are getting tickled.

Now these are great, but the most next-level execution of this idea is blending a sensory experience with an abstract one. Take this example, “a good long drink of freedom” from A Hope in the Unseen by Ron Suskind about a character just released from prison. Why I love it is because it required an even deeper layer of creative connection. The author had to consider, what does freedom even feel like? Maybe refreshing and energizing. Hm, maybe a little bit like having a zingy orange juice in the morning or a sip of water in the desert. Can’t say those were his exact thoughts, but I imagine the approach was similar.

Your turn!

Forever yours in wire crossings,
Jamie

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