HOW TO: WATTPAD.

FIVE SENSES

FIVE SENSES
sight, taste, smell, touch and sound

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DESCRIPTIVE WRITING

When your writing a descriptive scene, it's important to take note of everything that's going on around the character/you. Many writers tend to focus too much on sight and can result in the reader finding themself to be looking at this fictional world through a window rather than standing there right in it.

Applying all five senses will instantly change how effective your writing is.

Sight
There is more to sight than just how it looks, an important key to writing is that you should show not tell. Now I'm not saying you should describe everything you see but focus on a collection if details that are the best ones you can find. Let's take an example.

She was nervous.
Now, remembering our show not tell rule, look past this idea that she is nervous but instead how she walks and acts.
She walked briskly in a rushed manner, her hand fumbling with the briefcase in her hand.
This already gives the impression she is nervous and much more effective.

So when you are writing about sight, think about what it is you're looking at and what you are really seeing. Also, what do you not see? The absence of something can also give just as much effect. Next time you're writing about what can be seen, think about what this means.

Taste
"Her lips tasted of cherry", "The taste of ice cream melting in his mouth"
Okay these are good and all but it's obvious and not very evoking. Constantly we can taste something so why shouldn't we incorporate this into our story?

Taste can be closely related to memories, for example, some of you may have a favourable memory which included home cooked food and you can probably taste it in your mouth when you think about.
Patients who have been involved in a tragic accident that involved blood can probably taste the blood.
At the beach, can your character taste the salt in the sea breeze or perhaps the freshness at the countryside.

You don't even have to describe the taste, but even mentioning the action of tasting "a snowflake fell onto his tongue" can make it ore descriptive.

Smell
Smell is probably the most connected sense to memories, at least for me, when having flashbacks or reliving memories you can probably experince the strong scent of a significant smell. In the same way, smell can be a great way to triggee a flashback but I'll talk about flashbacks another time.

Close your eyes and picture the scene in your head, what can you smell? Does the wind carry a certain scent? How does the surrounding scenery smell after rain (for example, woodlands have a different smell once rain has passed).
When you get a whiff of say a perfume or a shampoo, does that remind the character of a past friend?

Touch
There are a wide range of adjectives to describe the sense of touch and can be quite enjoyable to do so. Two main ways i describe touch is texture and temperature. Take this example;

The floor was cold.
This can them become.
His fingers ran across the cold, smooth floor.

Those weren't the best word choices but you get the idea. Think about how things feel, think about the way somebody touches something (for example, tracing something slowly could mean it's something that means a lot to them) and what it's connected to - is it related to pain? Is it something pleasureable?

Sound
It's rare to be in a setting where there are no sounds (although the absence of sound is interesting itself and can be very useful) so make sure to include sound.

Incorporate sounds into the setting. In the woods, can you hear the calls of birds; the sound of the wind blowing through the trees and dead leaves crumbling beneath your foot steps.

Is a character coughing dryly? Is their voice soft or harsh? Is there a twang in their accent or can you hear the annoyance in their tone?

CONCLUSION

When you're writing with the five senses, always have this question in your head, why? Why are they having this sensation and what does it mean, what does it tell the reader about this fictional world?

So, when writing a scene, close your eyes and picture it. Think about everything and choose the aspects that make it most effective.

ANY QUESTIONS?

- gotsuen