Writing with Stardust- free on Kindle for 3 months only!
To celebrate ‘Writing with Stardust’ being put on Kindle for free, I’m putting up a post on ‘Describing a meadow’. It comes in 2 Levels- Beginners and Intermediate, both of which use the 5 senses.
I hope you enjoy the post. The Level 5 post on ‘Describing a meadow’ will be posted in a few days.
Clicking on the link below will take you to the Amazon Kindle store where you can get your copy for free!
Picture a meadow with a forest on either side of it. Running through the centre is a dreamy stream and the sky-punching mountains soar up in the background. An abundance of wild foods grow here as the climate is mild and the grass is lush and springy. Now that you have the scene, read on to decide which group of words you would pick to describe it. There are sample passages for the 2 Levels as you read on.
Level 1: The meadow in spring/summer: Beginners
Colours: Amazon-green: Eden-green: grape-green: peppermint-green: postcard-green
Sounds: the dawn chorus: the music of the meadow: babbling brook; buzzing midges: chirring grasshoppers: squeaking swallows: whirring dragonflies: murmuring winds
Sky colour/shape: The unending, brochure-blue sky.
A dome of cocktail-blue.
The endless, jewel-blue sky.
A shrine of crystal-blue.
A vault of neon-blue.
Stars of the night sky: flashing: flickering: gleaming: glinting: glittering
Other images: misty-eyed fox cubs: yolk-yellow ducklings: a lagoon-blue pool: flowers steaming in the morning mist: mountains as cruel as a hag’s teeth
The song of the river: ringing; sprinkling: plinking: tinkling: chinking
The rain: beads of rain: pearls of rain: teardrops of rain: dewdrops of rain: pregnant drops of rain:
Smells: the pollen rich smell of: the baked-apple smell of: the cherry blossom sweet smell of: the caramel soft smell of: the syrup fresh smell of
Tastes: the taste of zingy onions: peppy wild peas; zesty wild garlic
Sensations: goose bumps: skin tingling: heart thumping: jaw-dropping: eye-opening
SAMPLE PASSAGE: LEVEL 1: A Meadow in Spring/Summer
I came across a meadow once that looked as if it had stepped from the pages of a storybook. The grass was Eden-green and thigh-high to a thrush. The mountains in the distance had peaks that looked as cruel as a hag’s teeth. It was the only part of the meadow that looked off in some way. The rest of it was paradise.
It wasn’t just the sights that pleased the senses. The sounds, smells and tastes were out of this world also. The sky above the meadow was a feast for the eyes. It stretched as far as the eye could see in a dome of cocktail-blue, punched with fluffy clouds. Squeaking swallows chased whirring dragonflies in a dance of life and death.
A neon-blue ribbon of river ran through the centre of the meadow. A party of yolk-yellow ducklings scattered from under my feet as I approached it, crashing into the water. The song of the river was very gentle as it went plinking and tinkling over the gravel bed.
The music of the meadow came to my ears above the sound of the water: the dawn chorus, buzzing midges and the whispering of the wind. I could smell the sweetness of cherry blossoms and the caramel soft scent of flowers in the air. It was so soothing that I lay my head against a mossy rock and drifted into a deep sleep. When I awoke, I was very hungry so I dug up some wild onions. I put them into the beef sandwich I had brought and bit into them. They were so fresh their zingy taste felt like electric sherbet in my mouth. I could feel some dewdrops of rain on my head. The cloud soon passed, leaving the grass and earth to steam gently like druid- smoke.
As I made my way home, the first stars started to flicker in the night sky. They looked like someone had thrown fairy dust into the air and a black blanket had caught them. I swore I would return someday to this meadow, a piece of lost heaven.
Sadly, I have never been able to find it again.
Level 3: The Meadow in Autumn: Intermediate
Leaf colours: burnt-orange: lava-orange: burning-orange: scorched-orange: volcano-orange
barbecue-red: ember-red; inferno-red; magma-red: hellhound-red
glowing-gold: glinting-gold: molten-gold: sunburst-gold: waxmelt-gold
Sounds: bumbling bees: the wind music of the trees: a winged symphony of birdsong: owl-hoots by night: the thunk-thunk-thunk of nuts; creaking trees:
Sky colours: bruised-blue: warlock-black: plum-purple: dawn-pink: sea-silver
The sun: a fiery ball: a golden globe: God’s daystar: God’s golden eye: an ore-gold coin
Other images: the straining light of autumn: fog-tinted fairy trees: moon-splashed trees: cobwebs like silver fishing nets: mackerel skies and mare’s-tail clouds
Background detail: sky-spearing mountains: a weeping waterfall: iron-grey clouds: lances of sunlight flood the valley: the hog-backed mountains
Smells: mulchy: oaken: gummy: seasoned: woody
Tastes: savoury: toothsome: wholesome: mouth-watering: ravishing
Sensations: the cold bite of the wind: ear-burn: freezing whiskey-noses: apple-frosted cheeks: eye-watering winds
SAMPLE PASSAGE: LEVEL 3: A Meadow in Autumn
If Gods do exist, this meadow is their hideaway. That might seem a bit ironic, as most of the autumn leaves are hellhound-red in colour. The rest are scorched-orange and a pure, molten-gold. One by one, they drop to the ground, leaving the trees bare and skeleton-thin.
How could this be paradise, you might ask, never mind the playground of the Gods? Ah, but reader, you have not visited this meadow at the start of autumn as I have done. There you might see a bruised-blue and sea-silver sky chasing the grass into shadow at the coming of the dusk. You may also have been lucky enough to see a mackerel sky, grape-green and salmon-silver, with lances of sunlight spearing the ground in places.
If you had gone there at night, you would have noticed the wind music of the trees. Their gentle creaking and whispering leaves can’t overcome the steady thunk-thunk-thunk of ripe nuts falling to the ground. The owls hoot as they ghost past moon-splashed trees and the scurrying of frightened rodents ruffles the leaves. The rodents are after the sweetest windfall apples you have ever tasted. They are wholesome and toothsome, a tasty morsel left out by the Gods.
Late autumn can seem eerie but it has an alien beauty all of its own. Fog-tinted fairy trees become noosed by the dragons’ breath of the dawn. In the afternoon, the straining light of the pale sun pokes into dark places. When the clouds have passed, Gods daystar burns like a golden coin. The cobwebs flash like the steel nets of a fisherman and the dewy air is mint-fresh to the lungs. The sky-spearing mountains come into focus and their monk-caps of snow glitter in the light. Weeping waterfalls, looking like looms of ice-silver, topple and crash to the deep pools beneath.
Late autumn also brings the cold bite of the wind, freezing whiskey noses and apple-frosted cheeks. All is not lost, however. Nature provides one last bounty in the meadow. Wild pears ripen and tumble, orchard-fresh fruit is ready to be plucked and plump salmon provide one half of a surf ‘n turf delight. The gummy and sappy smells of the trees shedding their lifeblood through the bark reminds you that winter is coming.
You must hurry along to your home now as the scavenging skies are pressing down on top of you. You are comforted by the fact that Heaven’s Hideaway will burn long into the memory banks. Just don’t tell anyone how to get there. It’s our secret for now.
I hope you enjoyed the post. Just click on any of the book covers to find out more about Liam’s books. It will take you into the Amazon bookstore.
I hope you enjoyed the post.
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