Let Your Senses Do The Walking And Talking

Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.  ~William Wordsworth

Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.  ~Anton Chekhov

Last week I focused on finding terrific bits of information to add a new level of interest to your stories. Unfortunately, it’s not enough to simply add something cool you found on the internet or in a book. Readers demand that we write with something more than an encyclopedic litany of information. How boring to say, “The maiden ate her oat seed cake and followed it with a cup of ale.” While this gets the information across, the words don’t allow us to be fully in the moment.

I’m going to slip off on a tangent and tell you a story that happened to me a few days ago.

This is the one year anniversary of my mother’s death. Throughout this time, I’ve been fairly stoic. I’ve talked a lot about it, but haven’t had big cry sessions. At least, not until now.

I was walking through a casino over Spring Break and I smelled my mother’s perfume on a lady sitting at a slot machine. Grief swamped me. She smelled so much like my mom, a lifetime of memories instantly played within my head. I finally walked over to my friend who was several aisles down with tears streaming down my face. My time to cry had come.

It was a silly place to cry, yet there I was bawling like a baby. The familiar smell triggered my emotions and that’s what we have to tap into when we write.

Writers have a magnificent tool called the internet- information at our fingertips. While this has made researching easier, it has also made us lazy. I’ve discovered that my writing improves tenfold when I employ “the sensual art of research”.

The characters (Sarah and Caleb) in my first novel are asked to work in the rain forest of Malaysia. I’ve had the luxury of growing up in that country, but it was a long time ago. I could watch a few videos, try to remember what it was like, and read a few articles. What if I did that, plus added a few sensual exercises to bring in a more vivid dimension to this book? My Malaysia box was born.

First stop was the rainforest located at our local aquarium. I smelled and felt the plants, took notes on the animals I saw, listened to the sounds they made. Next stop was the steam room at my gym. I needed to know what it felt like to be in plus 100% humidity in clothes and trying to work. I timed how long it took for my clothes to become saturated, and discovered the inner part of my thighs chafed and blistered after “hiking” in shorts. I also took photos of what my hair did- SO not pretty…you should have seen my make up!

There was also a scene where my characters ate at open-air food stalls. I filled my box with bags of tangy spices commonly used in traditional cooking. I made a Malay dinner that Sarah and Caleb ate while taking note of the vibrant colors on top of the dark green banana leaf that served as a plate. I went to a large electronics store that had great World Music and Nature Sounds sections. Malay music and sounds of the rainforest played in the background as I wrote. A store that carries imports from around the world provided me with examples of batik and other local arts. By the time I finished, my box was full of great items that let me delve into the world of my book.

We are sensual creatures.

We process the world with our fingertips, nose, ears, eyes and mouth. Let your research lead you down a sensual path- I promise you won’t regret it.