On Abstraction Exercises

Abstractions are curious animals. The ability to form abstract ideas is supposed to be a strictly human attribute. Why are lesser animals unable to conceive of intangible things? Hearing a large branch falling from a tree overhead only to crash down a few feet from where it stands, can an ape not conceive that one day another branch may also fall upon its head and therefore avoid walking under overhanging branches? Or does the ape simply think, "Hey! What's that loud noise coming from above? Oh, it must have been that big brown thing that just landed there. Oooo! Look at the colorful thing fluttering by..." and then wanders off after the butterfly without giving a second thought to it's near-death experience?

Abstraction exercises, on the other hand, are no doubt a uniquely human invention. These exercises are where a stream of consciousness, or train of thought, is carefully logged during a fixed time period to see what seemingly random associations are formed within the subconscious mind, starting with a pre-selected abstract term, such as "yellow."

What does "yellow" taste like? Smell like? Feel like to the touch? Does it make sound? Other than the refractive properties which appear to the human eye, the concept of "yellow" is quite difficult to put down on paper. However, through experience and imagination, associations are formed which do come to mind quite quickly. The sun and fire are yellow, so is yellow hot? Lemons are yellow, so is yellow sour? These types of associations help us to form links between abstract ideas and the sensory world around us. They also help writers to find and use such associations to use in their writing with the hope that the use of such metaphors or similes will allow other humans to follow the same train of thought as the author in order to appreciate the abstract idea the author is attempting to convey.

For example, as an author, I may one day need to convey the idea of evil to describe an atmosphere found within a location. How does one describe "evil?" Well, the author could start a list of associations generally made with evil:

Evil
Black
Suffocating
Rancid
Decay
Death
etc.

This list then gives the author more ideas for how to portray the evilness of the scene to the reader:

"The vile stench of decay wafted out from the doorway as the butler answered our rapping of the grotesque gargoyle door knocker. An unwholesome aura permeated the manor, as suffocating as the surrounding darkness of the moonless night."