Sensory Writing

It’s fairly easy to describe what you can see. But how far would we really get in the world if we only relied upon our sight? We interact with and interpret our environment through using all our senses – sound, touch, smell, and taste – so why not reflect this in your writing as well? Don’t merely provide a photograph – try to place your reader in the situation and environment themselves, through a full sensory immersion.

Don’t just tell us that that it is a hot day; make us feel the sun punish our exposed skin, make us hear the deafening hum of cicadas shatter the still evening air, or see the burnt brown grass or the sun’s blinding glare. Don’t just say that it was a cold morning; make us feel the chilled air bite at our fingers, let us see our breath fogging before our eyes, or hear the crunch of the frosted grass beneath our feet. Think about how the environment can make us feel, and the little things that you would notice (or perhaps otherwise overlook).

Writing is about building a world within a reader’s mind. It is something more than just a photograph pixelated with words. Rather, it can be immersive, capable of embracing all of our senses beyond mere sight. The following activity will prompt you to move beyond simply describing how a place or object looks, and to begin experimenting with how our other senses – sound, smell, touch and taste – can be used to add depth to our writing and plunge our reader into a vividly real fictional world.

 

 

Sensory Writing Task I: Exploring Your Senses 

Pay attention to where you are right now. It might be at home, in a classroom, in a shopping centre or anywhere else. Below are four brief writing activities to make you use your various senses – sound, sight, smell and touch – to build up a vivid description of your setting. For an extra challenge, see if you can include something for taste as well!

 

Hearing

Sit and spend a minute listening to the sounds coming from INSIDE the room. Write a brief paragraph (3-4 sentences) describing what you can hear and how it makes you feel. Remember that even the absence of sound can be described in interesting ways.

Now try to listen to the sounds OUTSIDE the room. Can you hear anything? What does it make you think of? Write another brief paragraph describing what you can hear and what you think made the sounds.

 

Sight

Have a look around the classroom, and pay close attention to little details that make this location unique. What colours do you see? Is there anything out of place? What catches your attention? Write another description, focusing on a few key objects and describing them in detail so that the reader gains a vivid picture of this setting.

 

Smell

Spend a moment taking a few deep breaths, and smell the air. Are there any scents that you can identify? Are there any you cannot? Smell is closely associated with taste too, so describe any tastes that are associated with what you smell at this time. Spend another 3-4 sentences describing what you can smell.

 

Touch

What is on your desk? Reach out a touch what’s there. What does it feel like? What temperature is it? What texture? What imperfections does it have? What makes it unique? Describe this feeling in 3-4 sentences.

 

 

 

Sensory Writing Task II: Reflect and Extend

Reflect

Read back over your descriptions. Look for any differences between them. What did you emphasise with each sense? How did your descriptions change? Everybody is capable of good and bad descriptive writing – this is why editing is so important!

As you read over your descriptions, highlight your best descriptive sentence in one colour and your worst descriptive sentence in another.  Looking at your selections, what are the differences between good and bad descriptive writing?  You might share your sentences in small groups or as a class to explore this question.

  • Choose your favourite description and rewrite it using a metaphor or simile.

Extend

Using your iPad, take a photograph of an object in the school or at home.  Avoid taking ‘big pictures’ such as Harefield that give you too much to describe.  A close up of a flower or a clock for instance; will lead to stronger descriptive writing.

  • Looking at your image, write a ten sentence description in your book, drawing on multiple senses.
  • Copy your image into a Word or Pages document.  From your draft, use your best 4-6 sentences to write a description to accompany your image.  Edit your description as needed to create the best possible description of your image.  Share your wonderful descriptive writing with the class!

 

 

 

Sensory Writing Task III: Applying Sense Imagery

Part 1

The following video provides a series of images, sounds and clips. Each of these things is followed by a brief sensory writing activity, which is will allow you to apply and extend your emerging skills. Work through the video and the activities it includes, and remember to pause where necessary:

URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fMoBdz1E-o

 

Part 2

Look carefully at the image below. What is happening in this picture? Would merely saying ‘there is an avalanche’ do it justice? Imagine what it would be like to be standing in this place, and write a descriptive sequence in which you include details about what each of your senses would notice.

 

 

 

Useful Documents:

 

External Resources: