Write of Passage Weekly

Hey writers,

Welcome back to Write of Passage Weekly.

Last week, you learned how to be contrarian. Today, we’re exploring the relationship between photography and writing.

Words Are Worth a Thousand Pictures

Imagine a landscape that’s teeming with life, where every detail demands attention, from the delicate dew on grass blades to the pomp of towering oaks. Now imagine that you're a photographer. When you observe that splendor through a lens, you don’t capture every detail — you can’t! Instead, you focus on the details that matter most. Like the photographer, a writer must choose which part of the landscape to show their reader. You are called to immortalize the beauty and grandeur found in the panorama of your life by carefully selecting words.

We’ve all heard the adage “a picture is worth a thousand words,” but how often do you consider the inverse? Words are worth a thousand pictures. As you write, you’re like a photographer scanning the horizon for the perfect shot. Through words, you show your reader what to focus on; writing illuminates the unseen.

Just as a photographer uses light and shadows to guide the eye, a writer crafts phrases to communicate scenes and ideas. Take the phrase “whispering leaves.” You hear the gentle rustling and see the serene image. Every story you tell, every article you pen, is an invitation to show the world through our unique perspective. Readers only see what you show them, so it is your duty as the writer to focus on what is interesting, what’s worth looking at. Every sentence is a snapshot, every paragraph a gallery of thought.

The power of writing lets you craft a narrative from a mess of events or rescue an idea from a jungle of nonsense. To write is to draw attention to the overlooked details and blur the rest. You highlight what matters most and signal to your reader, “Look here, not there.” Like a photographer, you decide what’s in the center of the frame and what to leave your reader’s periphery.

Words are worth a thousand pictures because no two readers will see the same picture from the same words. So, use the power of your pen (or keyboard) to carefully choose what to exhibit and what to veil. Precision matters. Your words will determine the thousand images that light up the minds of your readers.

How I Write Podcast

Asking a Master Storyteller How to Write a New York Times Bestseller | Amor Towles

Amor Towles is our modern day F. Scott Fitzgerald. Sure, he’s a critically acclaimed, award-winning novelist (ever heard of A Gentleman in Moscow?) but not because he’s cracked the publishing algorithm. Rather than scheming how many books he can sell or how many critics he can impress, his #1 goal is to uphold his half of the covenant with his reader.

“They’ve invested in my art, and I owe it to them.”

Towles's work oozes sensory detail and psychological richness. While most writers would describe writing as “creative” or “free-spirited,” he describes it as “accurate” and “careful.” Every sentence he writes serves a larger truth. In this episode, Towles gives one of the most detailed breakdowns of his writing process that we’ve had so far on How I Write. 

You’ll learn the step-by-step process for how Towles drafts each novel — specifically, how outlining your work can free up your creative, poetic side. You’ll learn how to write descriptively without bogging down your reader in indulgent details. You’ll learn how to master craft through repetition, how to approach your first draft versus your second, how to influence your writing with reading, and how to create art that serves a broader purpose. 

Ultimately, you’ll learn how to tell exceptional stories from one of today's most exceptional storytellers.

Listen Now: YouTube | Spotify | Apple

Thank you for reading Write of Passage Weekly. This week, look at the broad landscape of your life, and capture one shot of it in a frame (with words on a page — not a camera, though feel free to do that too).

Happy writing,

The Write of Passage Team