Flowers in the Desert

Poppies and phaecelia  in the Sonoran Desert

Spring brings improbable splashes of color to the rocky deserts of California, Nevada, and Arizona. Something about flowers blooming in an arid landscape calls to the human psyche. Photographers and travelers hoping for an iconic scene dial hotlines or check websites for wildflower reports. (Desert USA is a superb resource.) Gorgeous coffee table books by Larry Ulrich or Jack Dykinga get snapped up along with wildflower field guides. Many of us bring home seed packets, hoping to replicate Mother Nature’s annual surprise party in our own backyards.

What is it about flowers in the desert that speaks to us so? Certainly, they are a metaphor for perseverance. Or for finding beauty in unexpected places—a swath of golden poppies at the base of a rocky peak, a red plume of Indian paintbrush bursting from a split boulder. A flower in the desert also reminds us of the ephemeral nature of beauty and youth: Here today, dried sticks tomorrow.

Speaking from a writer’s standpoint, I think that the vision of a tender plant surrounded by cacti, dirt, and rocks creates a feeling of tension. It’s like starting a story in medias res (in the middle of the action), intriguing the reader with questions: How did this get here? What happens next? There’s a sense of impending doom, for you know this delicate flower won’t survive the harsh desert summer.

Or will it?

What I’m getting at in a roundabout way is that all types of writing, even nonfiction, can incorporate fiction-writing techniques to pique the reader’s interest or simply to entertain. Though I haven’t written poetry in many years, I still think about rhythm, consonance, alliteration, and other poetic techniques when I write travel pieces. Similarly, I’ve found that the ingredients of a compelling novel—tension, conflict, characterization, sensuality—often work well for nonfiction.

Maybe you’re writing a piece about an upcoming city council meeting, or a blog post about using Facebook for marketing. As you re-read the draft of your article, think of the wildflower in the desert that makes you stop and take a closer look. Have you unconsciously incorporated storytelling techniques in your work? Will readers feel compelled to stop and take another look themselves? Will they ask, "What happens next?"