Several years ago, my wife and I went to see the movie Avatar in 3-D. I hadn’t seen a 3-D movie since I was a kid in some distant century. 3-D technology has come a long way, even though we still had to wear those silly glasses.
It was amazing. The characters, the scenery, tiny alien creatures seemed to float out of the screen and surround me. I felt as if I were a part of the movie rather than apart from it, merely watching on a screen. It added a sense of realism and believability to a movie set in the future, on a distant planet with very different life forms.
Afterwards, I wondered what it is that makes some writing feel flat, two-dimensional, like watching it on a screen, while other writing surrounds me and pulls me into the story and the characters, makes them more real and believable. What makes words on a page become 3-D?
When Australian writer Helene Young graciously invited me to sit in as a guest blogger, I joked that I’d discuss the three Ds of writing: Dialogue, Descriptio…
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to A Writer's Block: Robb Grindstaff to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.