The prompt is to consider how our senses are involved as we’re aware things are changing, or going through transition.
How with our senses do we know a relationship is changing? Or how do they tell us there is a transition between the seasons?
Describe a transition that you are made aware of via the senses.
The prompt this week was:
Think of an episode or event in life, childhood, or adulthood. Think of where it occurred, when, what season, and those involved. Think in terms of senses other than sight. If you were a sculpture, what would the texture be for the sculpture you would make of this? What are the sounds, smells, touch, sensations other than sight? Use sight minimally or not at all to tell your story.
The prompt was to set a scene as a writer for a particular purpose and use at least four of the bodily senses to contribute towards that purpose.
The prompt came from “Fire Ice” by Clive Cussler, with Paul Kemprecos:
After several minutes, during which the city lights faded to a glow, the car whipped down a darkened, garbage-strewn street into an alley not much wider that the vehicle. Austin’s companions hustled him from the taxi and stood him against a brick wall while they bound his hands behind his back with duct tape. Then they pushed him through a doorway along a dim hall and into the lobby of an old office building. Grime covered the marble floor. On one wall was a brass floor directory black with the patina of age. The smell of onions and the muffled cry of a baby indicated that the office building was being used for human habitation. Probably squatters, Austin surmised.
His escorts nudged Austin into an elevator and stood behind him. They were hulking men, as big or brawnier than Austin, who had never considered himself to be a pigmy. The space was cramped and Austin stood with his face pressed against the cold wrought iron of the ornate gate. He guessed that the elevator must date back to the time of the sultans. He tried not to think of frayed and neglected cables as the elevator slowly jerked and rattled up to the third and last floor. The elevator was more nerve-wracking than the speeding car. The elevator cracked to a stop, and one his escorts growled in his ear.
“Out!”
He stepped into a dark hallway. One man grabbed the back of Austin’s shirt in a bunch, used it to steer him forward and brake him to an abrupt stop. A door opened, and he was maneuvered inside. There was the odor of old paper and oil from long-ago business machines. He felt pressure upon his shoulders, then the edge of a chair bumped against the back of his knees. He sat down and squinted into the darkness. A spotlight flashed on, and Austin saw sunspots as the glare hit him in the face. He blinked like a suspect being given the third degree in on old gangster movie.
Set a scene for a particular purpose and use at least four of the bodily senses to contribute to your purpose.
Do you remember the song “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music?
Raindrops on roses
And whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles
And warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite thingsCream colored ponies
And crisp apple strudels
Door bells and sleigh bells
And schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things
Try this writing experiment:
When done with the list, look at which of the five senses are predominant. Taste of food? Smell of weather?
Be aware of how you remember things, and incorporate those descriptions into your writing, remembering to expand your favorite things to include all the senses, too.
You can find more writing tips, NaNoWriMo prompts, and writing tips for NaNoWriMo on our Writers in the Grove site.
The following prompt is by Chuck, a Writers in the Grove member, a part of our Prompt-a-Day project to support NaNoWriMo during November 2015. Each prompt was generously donated by our Writers in the Grove members. You are welcome to take this prompt in any direction you wish.
Take your character to the grocery store. How do they see and experience the store?
The following prompt is by Writers in the Grove member Ann Farley and a part of our Prompt-a-Day project to support NaNoWriMo during November 2015. Each prompt was generously donated by our Writers in the Grove members. You are welcome to take this prompt in any direction you wish.
Describe the most flavorful meal you or your character has ever had. Where was it, who was there, and why is it memorable.
Describe the flavors, smells, textures, spices, and sweetness.
Use your senses fully. Be where you are. Look around.
Just look, don’t interpret.
See the light shapes, colors, textures. Be aware of the silent presence of each thing. Be aware of the space that allows everything to be.
April 20, 2015
The earth between my fingers
Dark loam that crumbles at the touch
Warmed by the spring sun
Just moist enough to dampen my knees.
Visitors in the form of potato bugs,
Worms, bees, and slugs
Come and go as I toil
Leaving mere bits of memories in the stillness.
I notice something in the breeze
That distracts me from my work
Makes me pause and I breathe in
As the lilacs begin to sing.
Inspired by the Prompt: Senses.
The prompt for the week of April 10 was about using your senses when writing. Incorporation of these into writing to enhance the experience for both the writer and the reader. Striving to create a description rather than ‘telling’ what it is.
Writers in the Grove 