When writing for an audience, it is important to remember the senses.
Much of a story can be defined as flat if the sense of touch, taste, sight, hearing, and smell don’t affect the characters you are writing about. If you include what a character is feeling with their senses, you draw the reader into the story. Sometimes it is easy to write about your character, what they are up to, what they are thinking, but making the story real involves what they are feeling with their senses.
What about your male character? Is the salt spray stinging his face while he drives the boat at a high speed. Is he able to talk easily to his girlfriend sitting next to him, or is the roar of the motor making them yell to each other? Can he see where they are going or is the glare of the sparkling water making him squint, thus making it hard to steer the boat. When he bends over to kiss his girlfriend does he taste the salt water in her lips? Does he smell a hint of rain in the air, or the fish factories off the coast.
Think about a recent incident where you felt strong emotion. What did you feel sense wise? An exercise you might do to sharpen your writing skills and use senses, is to flip through a magazine and find a landscape photo.
- What would you feel if you were to step into the photo. Write a small scene including all of your senses.
- Next pick a photo of a person. Step into their world. What type of clothes are they wearing. Would they be cold depending on the background. What would they be hearing. Are they eating? If so, what does the food taste like.
- Visit a coffee shop or restaurant. What senses are you perceiving while sitting there? Was the food okay, great or excellent? Who did you see walk in? What were they wearing? Did they have on strong perfume? Did they greet you with a handshake – was it firm or soft?
Our senses carry us through life, enveloping our world. Be sure to remember the reader needs to feel the world you are writing about too. There is another sense as well, which is sometimes called the sixth sense or intuition, gut feeling, something a person feels from within when in a given situation. Don’t forget to include this sense too. The guy driving the boat knows all will be well as soon as he pulls into the dock. That knocking sound coming from the engine was driving him nuts, setting him on edge. What if they hadn’t made it back to land?
Tags: Creative Writing
