Stuck for a way to begin writing? Describing a photograph may break a stalemate. Friend and muse, Katherine Key, snapped this compelling photo along a Western Colorado Trail. Inspired by this photograph, a description can be literal, as shown below. Or lyrical, as the final example suggests.
Either approach will get the juices flowing. A literal description can serve as a springboard for setting a scene. A lyrical approach can tap into feelings and emotions.
Literal: I can see a rocky trail leading to a turn with the trail beyond obscured from view. A tree overhangs the trail. The path is narrow. In the distance I can see, in the middle ground, what might be a river or a road. The distant hills are bluish. The sky is cloudy and the air appears to be hazy.
Lyrical (defined as ‘romantic, poetic, emotional, expressive, inspired’): I live my life traversing a narrow trail, the horizon a distant dream, my destination uncertain. I leave the sunshine to risk the clouds ahead. There is no turning back. I must go forward.