: Re: How do I improve "beige" text? I have a tendency to write text that's on the "beige" side. I think it's the engineer in me that tends to write text that's very straightforward and strictly

@Debbie451

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Further to Mark Baker's excellent answer: If you want your writing to be more colorful, practice observing and recording colorful things.

I don't necessary mean literal color, although that's not a bad thing either, but to take regular, scheduled time to observe people, actions, sensations, scenery, feelings, sounds, smells, et cetera and then write them down with as much detail as you can.

Basic examples to get you started:

Walk barefoot in your yard for a good 15 to 30 minutes. Write down all the sensations. Note how your gait, posture, and stride change. Do different kinds of grass feel different? Can you tell if the ground is dry? Is the grass under a tree a lot cooler than that in the sun?
Describe lunch. Not just "a ham and cheese sandwich," but discuss
what kind of ham, the fragrance, the color, the type of cheese, the
condiments, the fixings, the bread. Notice the height of it. Is it
pre-packaged cold cuts on Wonder Bread or a Boar's Head Dagwood
special? Is the tomato winter-pale or heirloom?
Find a bakery. Sit in the corner for half an hour and describe the
sounds. Not the amazing smells, but the noises: the coffee machine, the servers yelling, people ordering, the jingle of the bells over
the door.
Record a sunset. You don't have to be poetic if that's not your
thing, but you can describe how the colors shift as the sun goes
lower in the sky, how clouds are afffected, how the rays of the light
slant, how the air is cooling.
Find a perfume counter and test different fragrances. Do they smell
the same on your wrist as your elbow? Do different fragrances work
well together? Does perfume oil last longer than an alcohol-based
spray? Do you find that aquatics appeal to you but patchouli makes you
gag?
I don't suggest you injure yourself, but if you do get banged up, pay attention and try to remember how it felt so you can write it down later.

The idea is to become accustomed to seeing beyond the practical recitation of facts to noting details. The detals are what will add "color," or interest, to your writing.

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