In a similar manner an author sits down with his paper and ink. He
sees in his mind a picture which he strives to paint. He endeavors by
his mastery of words to induce you to see what he sees. He also is an
artist, his canvas is your brain, and if he succeeds it is there he
must impress a picture. The words on the printed page and the function
of your eye are simply agencies through which he must work.
Words are vehicles of thought and they are the author's colors; their
function is to reproduce objects and conditions; by their use the
author conveys to your brain the impressions of size, color, form,
arrangement and every detail of his thought. A very few words will
create a wonderful picture, which would require hours for the artist to
paint.
When you look at the artist's painting your brain sees a picture. The
writer, however, is using a code requiring translation by the reader.
Words do not form pictures, they are merely agencies by the use of
which you can guide your mind's eye in the formation of a real mental
impression. The author succeeds in his effort just in proportion as
you succeed in forming a picture of what he is describing. When you
rob the canvas of your brain of the impression the author strives to
place there, by letting your eyes pass over the words so rapidly that
your mind's eye forms no picture, then the author has failed. The mere
reading of words makes no lasting impression upon the mind, but the
forming of visual pictures does. You remember best those books which
have consciously or unconsciously formed picture impressions on your
brain. What you can now recall of what you have read is largely the
recollection of these pictures.
Keep this illustration and these facts in mind in helping your
children. Urge them to properly use the visual faculties and train
their mind's eye to work with the physical eye.