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For this Back to Basics mini-course, we’re talking about the five senses and their role in description. Each Back to Basics course includes a challenge at the end to help you experiment. Let’s look at the basics.
One of the most common things we do when we write is to try our best to give readers a glimpse into a specific world. Whether it’s one that’s a lot like our own, or one that couldn’t be farther from it. Regardless, we want readers to feel like they are in an immersive world. To do that, we employ many different skills. Today, we’re going to be talking about something you might not have considered right away, but is actually very important to writing. In this Back to Basics course, we’re talking about how to utilize the five senses in description.
Now it goes without saying that you probably know what the five senses are, but just in case you wanted a crash course, they’re sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. We use them everyday in everything we do. Right now, I can feel the touch of the keyboard as my fingers are pressing down on every key. I can hear the sound of my typing. I can see the words that I’m typing appear on my screen, one after the other like magic. I don’t think I can smell the words I’m writing, I’ll admit, but I can smell the aroma of the hot tea I made that I have beside me on my nightstand. Everything around us consists of those five senses. So how do we make them matter in our writing?
1: Break it down a bit
There’s a fair bit of overlap between this first rule and the next, but for now let’s spend some time with this one. When you go about describing the senses (also known as a sensory description) you don’t want to list all the specific senses all at once. If you try to cram everything the character is seeing, touching, smelling, tasting, and hearing all in a sentence or two, it’s just not going to work. Not only would it read as too much, but it would also water down the effectiveness. When you’re incorporating the senses, take time with them. Devote a decent amount of your writing on each sense you use so that way readers can better understand what you’re trying to do. Now you may notice I mentioned each sense that you use, this leads me to my next point.
Additional resource: https://richiebilling.com/writing-tips/using-the-5-senses-in-writing
2: Pick and choose which certain sensory descriptions matter the most and when
It’s not just about using all the five senses in your writing. It’s also about when and how you prioritize them. You won’t always have to describe what every character smells like, or necessarily everything they hear, etc.
Example: John Doe just bought a new pair of shoes, what are some senses that seem important? If you guessed sight and touch, you’d be right! You wouldn’t necessarily try to use the sense of taste here unless John Doe tasting his shoes was relevant to the plot somehow. Maybe the shoes are a decorated cake!
Pick and choose which certain sensory descriptions would work best for a certain scene. The right sense will complement the scene and elevate it by helping your reader.
I mentioned sensory descriptions and guidelines for them a fair bit, but how about actually trying to come up with sensory descriptions?
3: When brainstorming, take everything into account
It can be difficult figuring out just how to describe things, and the senses are a core part of description. Knowing how to prioritize when and which senses work the best for certain characters/scenes is great, but you may be struggling with actually coming up with those descriptions. I think the phrase “be mindful of your surroundings” can help. Just brainstorm. It never hurts to compile a list of things. Consider where you are, does it look crowded or packed? If you’re near an object, grab that object, what does it feel like? Is it heavy? Is the surface smooth? Bumpy? You can list things like this so on and so forth for every single sense. What’s the point of this? To get yourself more used to the senses and thinking about them in a more active way. We’re making sense of our senses, so to speak.
The Challenge:
Aim for 500-1000 words
Your character is overwhelmed by a certain smell.
OR
Every night your character is woken up by a very specific sound.
Thanks for joining us for this Back to Basics course. If you tried this month’s challenge, you can share it on Discord or social media using #WWB2B. You can also send us your challenge for feedback as soon as possible, via dropbox on our Back to Basics page. Thank you and I will see you all next time!
About the author: Izhan Arif is an English graduate from the University of Illinois, Chicago. His interests tend to revolve around all things superhero, whether it be comics, shows, or movies! He also loves to write (go figure) and when he's not working on Back to Basics, he's also writing videos for WatchMojo!