How writing a novel changed my life's prism
You really don't think about it much when you begin, but writing a novel forces you to look at words and descriptions differently. You look at normal situations in life and think about the words you'd use if someone asked you to describe that interaction. You think about how you'd describe your demeanor and facial expression as you'e saying it. You're constantly inside your own head, living your life while narrating it to yourself.
But that's okay. It makes writing much easier. It makes your literary descriptions more vivid. More tangible. More immersive. As you sharpen your literary tools, you feel confident about your ability to write more complicated scenes that you'd otherwise avoid, thinking they're outside your wheelhouse.
That's also true for watching movies or TV. As I watch different scenes, I think about how I'd describe every little event if I was writing it for a novel. It's not just about following the events anymore. It's about ceaselessly being mindful of speech patterns, dialogue fluidity, reactions to every statement, facial expressions, inner monologue etc. It can be a bit daunting at times, but you can't escape it. This is your life now. You're developing a literary mind that is a passenger in your life's car ride. A bit like how Dexter, everyone's favorite serial killer, called his urge to kill people. His dark passenger. Mine is a literary passenger.
One of the ways in which that comes across is "show, don't tell". A critical literary principle that tells you to describe emotions and interactions as closely to the character's experience as possible. Avoiding filter words like "felt". Instead of writing "he felt cold as he walked through the snow", you write "particles of snow rested in his skin, sending shivers down his spine as he traversed the punishing snow".
We have to go the extra mile in our descriptions. Why? Because try as we might, humans are primarily visual creatures. Our optical journey tends to be more powerful and immersive to us than our literary one. That means that writers who get people to enjoy their books should be commended. Not just for their plot twists and shocking events, but their ability to go further to entertain you as much as a movie would, by making words and sentences almost dance with each other, keeping the reader all but catatonic as he finds it increasingly difficult to put the book down and get some sleep.