THERE ARE FIVE WAYS TO MAKE YOUR STORY OR ARTICLE STAND OUT, make it sing, simply by using all the senses. In each case be active not passive in your approach; open your eyes and prick up your ears. Have a sniff! Don’t guess the texture or taste of something: touch it or put it on your tongue. Get in touch with your sensuous side.
Sight
All writers use sight in their descriptions, but there are many ways of looking at something, and it is the writer’s job to make the picture as vivid as possible.
What about colour? Splash out. Colour can 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-red one? Instead of black hair, try liquorice-coloured. See what a difference it makes.
Use your imagination. Ask yourself questions. 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.
Then, of course, there is 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 to hear a teenager listening to Mozart, as you wouldn’t expect to hear an old person 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.
But in non-fiction it is easily forgotten. It is easy to write whole scenes without any sound in them at all. In the real world there is nearly always a noise, even if it is only a whisper in the trees or the dripping of a tap. Remember, these background sounds can add atmosphere. If it’s a noisy place you’re describing, I’m sure you’ll not forget to mention it, but what if it’s quiet and peaceful? Just sit still for a moment and see if you can hear anything: the song of a bird; a bell chiming; maybe a squirrel breaking open nuts. Closing your eyes can help to channel your mind to just one sense: hearing.
Taste
Okay, you’ve written a feature on cookery, so obviously this sense will be used to its utmost. However, what if you are writing a nature piece? Did you mention the taste of those wild strawberries you discovered along the footpath, whose sweetness burst into flavour 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? What about the wine, was it light and fresh? The choice of wine can also 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, again, don’t get stuck in stereotypes. Just use the type of food or wine a character might order in a restaurant to ‘show’ an aspect of their personality.
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, or love of a non-romantic kind. It is used for violence in crime stories. Then what about animals and pets? We pat our dogs and stroke our cats as a sign of affection. Others, fortunately a minority, kick them as a sign of aggression.
Think about a character’s hands. Are they cold? Clammy? This tells a lot about their emotional state. Whether someone shakes your hand firmly or limply, it tells us about their personality. If the skin is rough, perhaps they have a manual job. Soft hands might belong to a white collar worker, or a lady of leisure.
Touch is not only used in fiction. Don’t forget the texture of something as you describe it. A bolt of silk may be vivid in colour, but how does it feel under your fingers? What about the feel of salt drying on your skin after a swim in the sea? Touch it, then describe it.
Smell
Probably a favourite of travel writers. The aroma of frying garlic escaping from an open window, the scent of thyme released underfoot on a hiking trail, or the scent of a rose in an English garden. These smells can all be described in your own particular way. You don’t even need to be there. Again, try closing your eyes and imagining it. If no-one is watching, flare your nostrils!
It is not only food and flowers that smell. What about wet paint? The sea? Wood smoke? Examples are endless. Not all smells are pleasant. Don’t forget the nasty ones, if they help conjure up the atmosphere required in your story, or relate to the theme of your article.
For inspiration try reading literary novels. You’ll find these authors use the senses in an extra special way. For non-fiction some of the best writing is in the Sunday newspapers and supplements, in particular the travel sections.
So, why is their writing so vibrant and evocative? Simply because these authors and journalists employ the use of all the senses and in an original way. Give it a go yourself. You’ll see the difference.
– Gillian Brown
Reproduced by kind permission of www.writers-online.co.uk Writing Magazine where this article was first published in January 2010.
