There are no dull subjects. There are only dull writers. – H.L. Mencken
Learning to write with your senses is so much fun! Your stories will spring to life as you add sights, scents, smells, and so on!
SENSES: VISION
“Writing What You See”
Lesson Idea: Close your eyes for ten – fifteen seconds. Immediately upon opening your eyes, begin to write what you see. You must describe it in full visual detail. I want you to cause the reader to be able to “see” the item too.
Objective: To use visual stimulation as a prerequisite to writing.
“Becoming An Observer”
Lesson Idea: Visit a public place and write about the people you observe. What do they look like? Does their physical appearance convey anything about their emotional state? What types of personalities do you suppose they have? Where are they going? What struggles are they dealing with?
Objective: What we observe ultimately becomes what we write. We must learn to observe details – not just the general characteristics of people, places and things.
Corresponding Activity: Carefully observe a friend or family member over a twenty-four hour period. Write down interesting faces they make, quirky sayings, fascinating clothing, etc.
“Bionic Vision”
Lesson Idea: Pretend that you awoke to discover you have bionic vision. You can see through walls, into other buildings, etc. Write about what you see, being as specific as possible.
Objective: To begin to look for the unseen.
Corresponding Activity: Try to imagine what it might have been like if we had all been born with bionic vision.
SENSES: HEARING
“Writing What You Hear”
Lesson Idea: Go to a place where there are several different conversations going on at once. Use some of the overlapping dialogue to create one story-line.
Objective: To stimulate the sense of hearing/perception in writers
Corresponding Activity: Imagine what it must be like to be deaf for a day. Write a story about it. How would your life change? How would it remain the same? Plan a silent writing retreat where you can experience the wonders of the great outdoors in total reverent silence.
“Onomatopoeia”
Lesson Idea: List several different animals and/or items. Come up with correct onomatopoeia. Then combine all of the sounds into a story with or without naming the animals and or items.
Objective: To train writers in the art of stimulating their reader’s ears.
Corresponding Activity: Keep track of Onomotopeia over a one-week period. Then write a story using actual sounds you’ve heard with your own ears.
SENSES: SMELL
“Writing What You Smell”
Lesson Idea: List negative and positive smells, combining them into a sensible story.
Objective: To stimulate the sense of smell/perception in writers
Corresponding Activity: Go to a restaurant or other place where the smells are particularly strong. List everything you think you smell without actually seeing it.
“Super-Sensory Smell!”
Lesson Idea: Imagine you have super-sensory smell. Everything you smell is magnified 100 times. What would irritate you? What would be pleasant? How long could you stand living like this? What could you do to change your situation?
Objective: To encourage students to stretch their sensory abilities into the unknown.
Corresponding Activity: Do any particular smells trigger memories? If so, write about them.
SENSES: TOUCH
“Writing What You Touch”
Lesson Idea: Fill a bag with several different types of items: a cotton ball, a fountain pen, a coin, a bar of soap, etc. Reach into the bag and choose one item to write about, based solely on the way the item feels.
Objective: To stimulate the sense of touch/perception
Corresponding Activity: Choose something from home that is very familiar to write about. You must describe in great detail what it feels like to touch that item.
Scripture Reference: “…he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke.” Ps. 104:32
SENSES: TASTE
“Writing What You Taste”
Lesson Idea: (You’ll need a family member or friend to help with this one) Blindfold yourself. Have your assistant bring several different food items to you. With blindfold on, take a bite of each item. You must choose at least one to write about in great detail – using as many ‘tasty’ words as possible. What did it taste like? Did the taste correspond with the smell? Texture? Any surprises?
Objective: To stimulate the sense of taste/perception
Corresponding Activity: Write some tasty words about tonight’s dinner
“A Day at Wacky Cafe”
Lesson Idea: Pretend to be a customer at a cafe where everything tastes like something else. The milkshakes taste like spinach, etc. Your story must cause the reader to actually believe he can almost taste the foods mentioned.
Objective: To add a tasty twist to a tantalizing story.
Corresponding Activity: Write a menu for The Wacky Cafe
