Spark Your Reader's Imagination with Stunning Airport Descriptions
Streamlined Arrival: Pre-Departure Counter Process at the Airport
To craft an engaging story, you need to draw readers into the setting rather than keeping them at arm's length. Here's a sample of sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and textures associated with an airport to help you create a vivid and immersive storytelling experience:
The Hustle and Bustle of Check-In
SIGHTS: Imagine yourself stepping through the sliding glass doors that lead out of the drop-off areas, facing the long, expansive open area filled with multiple airline check-ins. Passengers wander about, carting their luggage in a seemingly endless snake-like cordoned-off queue. E-ticket check-in terminals, security personnel, and airport staff mill about, while colorful gates for various airlines stand proudly with their logo, TV sets displaying ads, and uniformed staff. You find direction from signs hanging from the ceiling.
SOUNDS: Listen closely for the automated doors opening and closing, people's names being called over the intercom, the steady stream of flight announcements, and the rhythmic thud as luggage wheels glide along the floor. Don't forget the hushed murmurs of parents urging their kids to keep up and the chatter of ticket personnel.
SMELLS: Take a deep breath and inhale the mix of coffee, hair products, cologne, perfume, mints/mouthwash, paper, metal, cleaning products, and the tantalizing aroma of baked goods from a nearby snack/coffee business.
TASTES: Taste the distinctive bitter brew of coffee, a sip of water, or the cooling sensation of mints and gum. Snack vending machines discreetly line the walls, waiting to satisfy any craving you might have on the go.
TOUCH: As you navigate the crowded airport, you'll feel the tug on a suitcase handle, the weight of a heavy suitcase or carry-on in your numb hand and arm, the occasional bump into someone else, and the soft seats you sink into during a lingering line wait.
Crafting Unforgettable Storytelling
Words Pack a Punch: Choose your words wisely to convey an appropriate atmosphere and mood.
Example 1: As I stood in a seemingly endless line to check my baggage at the undersized America Airlines counter, I couldn't help but gaze enviously at the swiftly flowing passengers at the adjacent Korea Air counter. My fellow travelers looked more like a multi-colored wave surging through a funnel than a line.
Similes and Metaphors Create Strong Imagery. Example 1: (Metaphor)* With a grunt, I heaved Nana's luggage forward, fighting against the resistance of the sluggish line. What on earth had she stuffed in that oversized suitcase? A trunk full of bricks?
Discover More Sensory Details
Dive deeper into the world of sensory storytelling and settings by exploring these resources:
- Read Travel Blogs and Articles: Engage with vivid descriptions of airports found in travel-focused websites and blogs.
- Immersive Storytelling and Sensory Writing Guides: Master immersive writing techniques through books or online courses.
- Airport Reviews and Forums: Leverage the experiences and observations shared by travelers on airport review websites.
- Use Sensory Criminology Concepts: Gain a new perspective on airport settings by studying sensory criminology concepts.
- Personal Experiences and Observations: Document your own sensory impressions during a visit to an airport.
At Your Fingertips: 200+ Memorable Settings
Optimize your storytelling with the "Urban Setting Thesaurus" and "Rural Setting Thesaurus" volumes. These bestselling books contain over 200 settings, complete with multi-sensory cues, conflict options, guidance on avoiding infodumps, and examples of brilliantly written descriptions that help reinforce emotion and characterization.
For more information about this highly acclaimed writing set, visit our bookstore.
Becca Puglisi
Meet the writer behind these indispensable resources: Becca Puglisi, an international speaker, writing coach, and bestselling author of "The Emotion Thesaurus" and its sequels. Her books are represented in five languages and are esteemed by writing professionals, novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists across the globe.
Passionate about knowledge sharing, Becca maintains the popular Writers Helping Writers blog and manages the powerful online library, One Stop For Writers, designed to elevate storytelling.
- As a writing coach, Becca Puglisi provides guidance to help writers craft unforgettable stories by using strong imagery in their storytelling, such as similes and metaphors, and choosing their words wisely to convey the appropriate atmosphere and mood.
- To further enhance their storytelling skills, writers can gain insights through various resources like reading travel blogs and articles, sensory writing guides, airport reviews, applying sensory criminology concepts, and documenting their own personal experiences and observations.
- For more comprehensive and in-depth resources, writers can turn to books like the "Urban Setting Thesaurus" and "Rural Setting Thesaurus" volumes, which offer over 200 settings, including multi-sensory cues, conflict options, guidance on avoiding infodumps, and examples of brilliantly written descriptions that help reinforce emotion and characterization.
- writers who are looking to expand their writing lifestyle beyond home-and-garden and travel themes, can find inspiration in these resources and apply the lessons learned to create engaging stories with vivid and immersive settings, that capture the attention of readers and help them become drawn into the narrative.
