Can YOUR READER feel it? See it? Hear it? Smell it?
The best way you can keep your reader interested and keep
reading is to bring your reader INTO your story. There are a few ways to do
this.
One way is to write in Second Person (You see the sun setting
and you get that prickly feeling of being watched…) [1st person: I
see the sun setting…; 3rd person: He sees the sun setting].
Many writers will engage all of the senses so that the reader
feels as if they are there and observing the action. If your reader can visualize
the room where the lovers meet, feel the velvet cushions of the sofa, smell the
fragrance of her perfume, hear the baritone of his voice, etc., then your
reader will be invested in your story.
Not unexpectedly, INvested begins the same as INterested. Once you have your
reader hooked you just have to tell a decent story.
So how do you make it REAL for your readers? There are FIVE
senses and you will want to utilize as many, or all, as you can in your
writing. Don’t just TELL us about the tall, dark and handsome hero. “He walked
into the room ducking as he walked through the door, his presence was followed by
the woodsy scent of his aftershave.” Obviously if he needed to duck, unless you
are talking about a child’s playhouse, you see
someone who is tall. The woodsy scent of cologne (or whatever appealing scent
you can think of) tells you that this is a man who probably takes care of his
grooming and may even add an air of attractive masculinity — your reader will
probably even begin to smell his cologne.
Describe the clickety-clack of her heels as she walks across
the tiled hallway and your reader will imagine the hard floor. Don’t just tell
your reader that she is heading into the break room for a cup of freshly brewed
coffee, describe what freshly brewed coffee smells like. Think of the smell and
describe it as she enters the break room, “the sweet smell of the freshly
roasted beans called to her as she approached the steaming coffee pot”. Let us
know that the tip of her tongue tingles from the heat of the liquid, mention
how she warms her hands as she holds the warm ceramic cup, describe how she
feels her body and mind waking as she sips the mighty brew.
Engage every sense that you can. It’s okay to describe a
setting, the plush carpeting, the golden sands, the dark clouds rolling in.
Never give so much description that you don’t allow your reader to use some of
her own imagination though; if you nail down the scene and something about your
description doesn’t sit well with your reader she is liable to extricate
herself totally from the story. Give enough detail to satisfy the important
(relevant to the story) parts but not so much that you lock your reader in OR
OUT.
Use memory senses to engage your reader’s imagination. Saying
that the smell of her baking brought him back to happy memories of visits to
his grandmother’s house will allow your reader to remember their own happy
memories. Compare the sound of the child’s doll saying “Ma-Ma” to the late
night whimpering of her little brother when their mom fell asleep with the TV
blaring to invoke a somber mood. Use analogies to engage your reader’s
imagination, absorb your reader’s own memories to make it personal and
relevant.
Don’t forget to use the sense of taste, touch and intuition
as well.
Writing
Exercise: Describe the room you are sitting in by focusing on SENSES.
Writing
Prompt: List your most prominent memories of smell, taste, sound, feel/touch, and
sight.
Challenge
Assignment: Write a 26-sentence story. Each sentence must begin with the next
letter in the alphabet AND all five senses must be a part of your story.
