How to Use the Senses in Your Writing
Do you use all your senses in your writing? Here’s a simple writing exercise by Alice LaPlante.
Rhododendron in bloom. Photo: Tanya Clarke 2019
I’m looking at photos, some old, some new, thinking about which one to use for this week’s writing.
I often offer up the usual advice of remembering to use all your senses when describing an image. Get into all the details! Give it all to your reader! Let them really into the story!
And yet.
Looking back and reading through some of the stories I've posted, I don't always take my own advice. I rarely describe a person’s appearance preferring to describe things or environments. I might throw in some dialogue in an attempt to create a personality around what a person says and how they react. Up to a point, this works. I think. I'm often concerned that a character described in infinite detail may become boring to read. I’m sure I read somewhere that too much description is the sign of amateurish writing.
Balancing the Details
But, of course, details are wonderful and necessary to form an image for your reader that seems true and real and touchable. Yet too much frivolous information can stop a story from moving forward. As always, there’s a balance. In my attempt to omit the unnecessary, I often fail to create a fuller picture. Dialogue becomes difficult to follow, characters develop similar traits and the story becomes too vague.
Let’s Get Some Help
The Making of a Story by Alice LaPlante is a thick, weighty tome full of wise words on the craft, inspiration and purpose of writing creative fiction & non-fiction. At first, I found myself intimidated by its size.
Where to begin? Do I start from page 1 and work my way through to page 675? Will it help? Will I write anything? Is this whole preoccupation with writing pointless? Should I donate it to the local library? I put it aside for a few months, possibly a year before I feel ready to come back to it.
Now I'm ready. Ready to write something longer, a few thousand words rather than a few hundred. I find a simple exercise in The Making of a Story.
“An interesting exercise, after you’ve tried to describe something on the page, is to go through it and see what senses you have used to create the image. Chances are, you’ll be depending primarily (if not completely) on the sense of sight alone.”
— p. 117, The Making of a Story by Alice LaPlante
I can't help but stop and think of Helen Keller. I learnt about her at school. Left blind and deaf after a childhood illness, Helen Keller learnt to write through touch, with the help of her teacher Anne Sullivan who signed letters into the palm of Keller's hand. Her story is extraordinary.
Remember Your Senses
“...start with a visual image, but gradually add the other four senses - see how much more satisfying and complex the image is when we’re through.”
p.118, The Making of a Story by Alice LaPlante
I decided to give it a go. Here are a couple of sentences taken from one of my stories. Let’s see what happens.
Start With a Visual
Sandra pulls her hair back into a rough, messy ponytail. The neckline of the dress sits lower than she'd like. She pulls at the neck and shifts her hips from side to side, wriggling until the dress sits properly on her body. The light falls across her head, highlighting the grey strands sprinkled through her hair.
Add Smell
Sandra pulls her hair back into a rough, messy ponytail. The neckline of the dress sits lower than she'd like. She pulls at the neck and shifts her hips from side to side, wriggling until the dress sits properly on her body. An odour of stale sweat mixed with antiperspirant lingers around her. The light falls across her head, highlighting the grey strands sprinkled through her hair.
Now Add Touch
Sandra pulls her hair back into a rough, messy ponytail. The neckline of the dress sits lower than she'd like. She pulls at the neck and shifts her hips from side to side, wriggling until the dress sits properly on her body. The cheap tight fabric rubs against her skin where it catches the small fine hairs on her thighs. An odour of stale sweat mixed with antiperspirant lingers around her. The light falls across her head, highlighting the grey strands sprinkled through her hair.
Don't Forget Sound
Sandra pulls her hair back into a rough, messy ponytail. She kicks off her shoes and they land in the corner of the small changing room with a heavy clump. The neckline of the dress sits lower than she'd like. She pulls at the neck and shifts her hips from side to side, wriggling until the dress sits properly on her body. The cheap tight fabric rubs against her skin where it catches the small fine hairs on her thighs. An odour of stale sweat mixed with antiperspirant lingers around her. The light falls across her head, highlighting the grey strands sprinkled through her hair.
Last of All, Taste
Sandra pulls her hair back into a rough, messy ponytail. She kicks off her shoes and they land in the corner of the small changing room with a heavy clump. The neckline of the dress sits lower than she'd like. She pulls at the neck and shifts her hips from side to side, wriggling until the dress sits properly on her body. The cheap tight fabric rubs against her skin where it catches the small fine hairs on her thighs. An odour of stale sweat mixed with antiperspirant lingers around her. The light falls across her head, highlighting the grey strands sprinkled through her hair. Her mouth feels dry. A bitter taste of garlic fills her mouth from the sandwich she ate an hour ago. She reaches into her bag for a bottle of water.
Does This Work?
Is the last paragraph better? I think so. It won't win any literary prizes but it does read better. Richer and more complex. If I was being really picky I’d say it is starting to read like a list, however, I am feeling the discomfort of the dress, the closeness of the changing room and the heat of a body needing water. There’s something here I feel I could continue. I want to know more about Sandra. And I guess that’s important, feeling interested in what you’re writing about. Wanting to find out more.
Do you find it difficult to write using all the senses? Does this exercise help? Trying this out for myself has definitely given me an insight into how I might create more layered, textured, colourful images through writing. Let me know if it helps you too.
