Heh–heh. How many of you saw the title on your RSS feed and rushed over here thinking I was going to discuss something naughty?
Sorry. Wrong use of the word.
I’m talking about the five senses. Sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch. If you want to suck the reader into your story and have it come alive for them as if they’re really living it, be sure to include sensual descriptions. You don’t need to include all five sense descriptions in every single scene, but the more you add them in, the more real it’s going to be for the reader.
The two most neglected senses are those of smell and taste—and yet those are two that can evoke some of the strongest reactions in a reader, particularly smell. Don’t be afraid to use them in your writing.
Pay attention to sensory descriptions as you’re reading over the next few weeks. Does it make a difference to you? Does it pull you in? Does it make the writing stronger? more real, more vivid? Can you think of a scene or an author you’ve recently read where the sensory descriptions captivated you? If so, tell us about it.
Think about how sensory descriptions would add depth to the story you’re writing now. Do some testing with your writing and let us know how it worked for you.
This is one of the ways that my writing group saves me–I just don’t think of the senses much when I’m putting together a story, but when I read it to them they point out the places where smells and taste and sensation really boost the imagery. I’d be lost without people to help me find those details.