WRITERS ABROAD MAGAZINE: THE THIRD SPACE
Feast Your Senses
By Jill Brown
Five ways to make your story stand out: open your eyes, prick your ears, have a taste, a
feel, and a sniff.
Sight
All writers use sight in their descriptions, and it is their job to make the picture as vivid as
possible.
Splash out on colour to bring an extra dimension. Be as garish or subtle as you like, but try
to avoid clichés and make your choice of colour specific. Instead of having a red box why
not have a scarlet or a ruby one? Instead of black hair, try liquorice-coloured.
Use your imagination. Does something remind you of something else? If so, show off with a
metaphor or a simile. However, a word of warning: don’t over-do it or use clichés. Hair like
silk will only make an editor groan. Be original.
Sound
Probably the second most commonly used sense is sound. The screeching of brakes, the
shrieking of children, the barking of dogs, and so on. Or it can be used to create tension as
in the footsteps got louder and louder.
What about music? The type of music can suggest an historical time-frame or even the age
and type of the character playing it, as well as adding to the general atmosphere. You
would not expect a teenager to be listening to Mozart, as you wouldn’t expect an old person
to be listening to rap. Don’t be so sure, though. Why not try having just that? It makes for an
interesting character and one you’re unlikely to forget.
It is easy to write whole scenes without any sound at all, but background sounds add
atmosphere. Sit still for a moment and close your eyes. This can help to channel your mind
to just one sense: hearing. Now can you hear a whisper in the trees, the dripping of a tap,
the song of a bird, a bell chiming, or maybe a squirrel breaking open nuts?
Taste
A book or feature on cookery will obviously use this sense to its utmost. However, what
about the taste of wild strawberries in a nature piece? Did you mention their sweetness
bursting on your tongue?
Or perhaps you’re writing a scene where a couple are dining together. What did they eat
and what did it taste like? Was the wine light and fresh? The choice of wine can hint at
personality. A heavy tannin-type would not suit a shrinking violet any more than a sweet
white would suit a macho man. But, as always, don’t get too stuck on stereotypes.
Touch
You might first think of this sense in the genres of erotica and romance, used to describe
physical interaction and sensuality. Fine, but there is plenty of use for it elsewhere. A touch
can convey complicity, empathy, friendship, affection – used both between humans and
their pets – as well as a sign of aggression, habitually used in crime stories.
17 | May 2016