Using the senses in your writing helps transform a simple description into an experience the reader can step inside. By including carefully chosen details of sight, sound, smell, taste and touch, you can make places feel more vivid, memories more immediate and emotions more believable. Sensory writing also encourages readers to connect what is happening on the page with experiences of their own, drawing them more deeply into your story. I have compiled some useful articles and YouTube videos about using the five senses in our writing.
Senses in your Fictional World
How To Use All 5 Senses To Unlock Your Fictional World – Writer’s Edit (writersedit.com)
Write with all five senses is a brilliant rule for working on description. Each sense is a powerful tool in its own way. Combined, they don’t simply describe the world that events take place in – they offer the reader a full, immersive experience. Using examples, this article discusses tips to get started in writing with your senses.
How to Use the Five Senses in Your Writing – 2024 – MasterClass
Description is one of the most basic tools in a writer’s toolkit. To create descriptions that will stay with your reader, you’ll need to learn how to describe the sensory details of all five of your senses. Masterclass explains how to write with each of our senses: sight, taste, touch, smell, and sound, sharing both writing prompts and tips.
Writing Scenes With Your Senses – Writer’s Digest
Wendy B. Correa explains how sensory details can turn a straightforward account of what happened into a scene the reader can genuinely experience. By considering what a character sees, hears, smells, tastes and physically feels, writers can make their work more immediate, emotional and memorable. The article includes helpful examples and a practical exercise that encourages you to explore the different sensations an event might evoke.
The Five Senses
The Five Senses Writing Exercise | WordProcess
This article introduces a simple, structured exercise that is particularly useful if you find yourself relying mainly on visual description. It invites you to observe a place or situation through each of the five senses before using your notes to create a richer and more engaging passage. The aim is not to squeeze every sense into every scene, but to notice more and choose the details that work best.
Awakening All Five Senses: How to Write Descriptions That Come Alive – EveryWriter
This approachable guide looks at how sight, sound, smell, taste and touch can bring a setting to life, create atmosphere and reveal something about a character. It also introduces more advanced ideas, such as blending different senses, filtering description through a character’s individual perspective and selecting a few powerful details rather than overwhelming the reader. It includes plenty of literary and original examples, several prompts to try and a linked Sensory Description Challenge worksheet.
Beyond Description
How to Use the Five Senses in Your Description – Mythcreants
This article from Mythcreants encourages writers to move beyond describing only what a character can see and to think about which sounds, smells, tastes and physical sensations might add mood, meaning or emotional depth. It also reminds us that sensory description works best when it is selective and shaped by the viewpoint character. Examples involving the different senses are shared throughout as well as a practical writing exercise to help you put the advice into practice.
Using The Five Senses – Bringing Your Fiction to Life – Writing.ie
This article from Vanessa Gebbie discusses bringing your fiction to life by using the five senses. She feels that one of our aims as fiction writers is to transport readers into our worlds and to do that successfully, those worlds must live. It is a question of being aware, of being open, and slowing down – noticing in your fictive world, how it feels, how it sounds, and what textures and colours lift it out of monochrome. And weaving it around yourself, clothing yourself in it – living it. So that your reader will, too. Vanessa shares a writing exercise to try and then asks you to pare it back.
Podcasts on Using the Senses
Writing Excuses 7.5: Sensory Writing | Writing Excuses
The presenters discuss how sensory description draws readers into a scene, while warning against adding so much detail that the writing becomes overwhelming. They encourage writers to choose sensations connected to the character’s emotions or the needs of the story.
The Writing Life Podcast – Episode 13: Multi-Sensory Writing – Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach
Ann Kroeker suggests including at least three senses when bringing a scene or object to life. The simple approach can be applied to fiction, memoir, poetry and other forms of creative writing.
S38E5 – How Do I Add Sensory Details to My Writing? — Writing Roots
This episode from Writing Roots explains how sight, sound, smell, taste and touch help readers enter the world of a story. It is particularly useful because it considers sensory detail during both the initial writing process and later editing, making it helpful for writers who want to strengthen an existing draft.
Conclusion
Effective sensory writing is not about including all five senses in every scene, but about choosing the details that best support the moment. A familiar smell might awaken a memory, a sudden sound might create tension, or the feel of an object might reveal something about a character’s past. When sensory details are specific, selective and filtered through the character’s point of view, they help create writing that readers can not only imagine, but almost see, hear and feel for themselves. I hope you have found this week’s column useful. As always, please get in touch if there is anything you would like me to cover.
(c) Lucy O’Callaghan
Instagram: lucy.ocallaghan.31.
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