Why do you read something? Is it the cool title? Maybe. Did you just want to try something new? Maybe. If I were to be honest, I would say I picked up that mysterious book because it had a really intriguing cover, that it made me so curious to know more.
There are many instances where an image sparks our interest, drawing us as readers in, wanting to know more. This interest and excitement is often used to draw in a reader, give an example of the contents within, or simply accompany a piece of already-interesting and well-written text. This being said, it is easy to see how visuals can be a useful tool when working to appeal to readers and capture their attention.
Images for Examples
When used in conjunction with text, images can be a useful way to provide your reader with an understanding of simply what you are talking about. Maybe you are writing about your favorite beach, or childhood home. In that case, including a picture of that setting or your old bedroom could help the reader not only have the description of how this felt or smelled, they will also have a more clear visual to help them understand precisely what you are talking about.
Images for more Information
When I think of this type of image I might imagine a graph or other visual that adds to my knowledge of the text in a way that adds to the texts pre-existing information, but offers the reader a new way to consider the text or idea. This can be useful as all readers have different learning preferences and some may take to a visual representation of an idea in a more positive or easier way than the text. In contrast to “images as examples” I like to think of using an image as information in a way that gives the same information the text gave, but in a different platform, while “images as examples” might be when an image is used to support a piece of text, but it does not necessarily offer any information within itself.
Images because why not?
Okay, so that book I picked up because the cover was cool could have used any cover, but this cover that captured my attention was likely chosen because it helped make the text more exciting and gave it a greater appeal to writer’s. You can do this too! You don’t have to write a novel and pick the most interesting book cover, but you can include fun images throughout your text that relate to your work.
Moving Forward
They don’t have to serve as a direct example of what you just wrote, and they don’t have to add information, but they can help to keep a reader interested and from being bogged down in text. For example, I didn’t have to include an image of books at the start of my post, the image didn’t even give an example of a particular “cool” book cover, but it did add something a little interesting and different to my text.