Welcome to How to Keep Writing Wednesdays, where you'll find a boost of encouragement to help you keep the words flowing.
Writing With All Five Senses
Good writing employs all the senses. The reader must be able to hear, feel, smell, even taste the writing. If not, the writing won’t work—it won’t transport the reader. This rule applies to all kinds of writing, fiction or nonfiction. Book reports, magazine copy, novels, screenplays, speeches. Everything.
The fastest way to develop good sensory detail in your writing is to do exercises that focus on each sense. For example, one day sit on the beach and write about the texture of sand. Think about describing sand to someone who’s never seen or felt sand before. Observe people on the beach and notice how the sand shifts and moves under their feet. What happens to the sand when a wave comes in? When a child pushes it together to make a sand castle? And so on.
The next day write about eating your favorite meal. Even if you end up with descriptive detail you might never use when writing a story about your favorite dish, this extra work will help you find the right words.
Stand in line at the grocery store and close your eyes. What do you hear? Describe the voices of the other shoppers. What can you tell about the person or persons by their words, their tone of voice? What other sounds do you hear? Listen carefully. The squeaky wheels of the grocery cart, the beep of the register, the pages of a magazine being turned? The crispness of a paper bag being opened?
These exercises strengthen your writing muscles. It may seem tedious and boring, but it’s only an exercise, like doing push-ups or chin-ups. You’re not running the marathon, just training for it.
Like most things, good writing doesn’t happen without a bit of effort. You don’t need to commit huge amounts of time to this, just work it in every now and then to make sure you’re giving yourself and your writing every best effort to improve. This week, spend a little time with sensory writing.