When writing simmers with sensory detail, readers digest the story and perhaps, are satiated with emotionally charged memories. Do you remember dipping graham crackers in milk and eating it quickly before it broke off and became a soggy mess? You might use something like this in a scene where the hero/heroine has just been dumped by a boyfriend/girlfriend. Perhaps your character can’t make decisions. Employ a scene where he taste tests while walking a buffet line; a bite here, a nibble there, unable to settle on a nourishing decision. Employ sensory detail to involve readers in the story’s emotional ingredients. Match emotions with taste receptors: Bitter: She recoiled and didn’t know whether it was from her bitter coffee or his abrupt, “We’re done.” Salty: “The oysters were so fresh they tasted like my tears. I closed my eyes to feel the sensation of the sea.” — Laura Fraser, “Food for…
Category: Just Write
Ruminate is ready for your submission
ru’mi-nate: to chew the cud; to muse; to meditate; to think again; to ponder Ruminate is an award-winning quarterly literary arts print magazine engaging the Christian faith. Ruminate publishes poetry, short stories, photography, visual art reproductions, short fiction, memoir, creative nonfiction, essays, reviews, and interviews. Ruminate sponsors four contests each year—poetry, short story, nonfiction and visual arts. Ruminate suggests slowing down and paying attention. “We love laughter. And we delight in telling the truth, asking questions, and doing ‘small things with great love,’ as Mother Theresa said.” You are invited to submit your work. Note from Marlene: Writers Forum of Petaluma presenter Rayne Wolfe, October 15, 2015: Newspaper reporter and columnist, Rayne Wolfe will share her methods for identifying sources, mining for quotable gold and turning interviews into stories. Whether you are focusing on non-fiction, fiction, historical fiction or memoir, Rayne will share her tools for enriching all writing by becoming…
See your story and tell it.
Relax into your chair. Escort your inner critic . . . your editor out the door. Shed your ideas about what perfect writing means. Give yourself permission to write the worst stuff possible. Writing isn’t about talent, it’s about practice. Creative writing is an act of discovery. Take a deep breath. Relax into your breathing. Rather than write for an audience, write from an instinctual level. Immerse yourself in writing. Let go of your worries. Just let go. Write to satisfy an inner desire and to go to a meaningful place, that’s all your own. Go deeper into the recesses of your mind and really write. Write to get to a powerful level – not for an audience. If you notice thoughts and feelings that cause discomfort, take a deep breath and exhale. Look around the room. Get up and walk to a window, or get a drink of cool,…
100 Word Story
Do you like to write short pieces? If yes, then Grant Faulkner’s 100 word story is for you! From the 100 word story website: “One hundred seems perfect. It’s the basis of percentages, the perfect test score, the boiling point of water (Celsius), purity. Pythagoreans considered 100 as divine because it is the square (10 x 10) of the divine decad (10). Even a Scrabble set has 100 tiles. And yet 100 is a fragment. It’s an arbitrary marker, like the ‘First 100 Days’ of a president’s term—merely a promise of what’s to come, or a whiff of what has passed.” Submit: 100 words … no more or no less. Tell a story, write a prose poem, pen a slice of your memoir, or try your hand at an essay.
Brevity publishes extremely brief essays.
Brevity is an online journal, publishing short narrative essays (750 words or less). Employing strong verbs and using sensory detail increase chances of your writing being selected. “There is no room for throat-clearing in search of a point. . . You need each sentence to do more than one thing . . . provide setting, forward the action and give insight into character, all at once.” Founder and editor Dinty W. Moore, interviewed by Kerrie Flanagan, The Writer August 2015 Information about using sensory detail can be found in the Just Write section on The Write Spot Blog. Good Luck!
What does “show rather than tell” mean?
Writers have been told to “show” rather than “tell.” Do you wonder what that means? Barbara Poelle, “Funny You Should Ask,” Writer’s Digest, September 2015 says this about that: “Telling supplies information while showing explores information. In order to expand a narrative into more showing, think about the complete sensory experience of a scene.” If you rely on narrative, you run the risk of an “information dump,” where you give all the facts in a few sentences. Poelle suggests, and I agree, “Don’t fall into the trap of quickly getting information ‘out of the way’ so you can ‘get to the story.’ . . . Take your time to explore [the facts] through action, dialogue and the senses of the characters involved.”This way, you set the scene with a “kinetic feel.” All well and good, but what does this really mean? I played around with some scenarios: #1: I set…
Writer Advice: Scintillating Starts Contest
Writer Advice announces its Fourth “Scintillating Starts” contest. $20 ENTRY FEE — 3 PRIZES OF $100 B. Lynn Goodwin, Writer Advice: Whether you’re writing fiction, memoir or another prose genre, entice us. Grab our attention. Make us want to know more. Give us reasons to care. Submit the opening (up to 1500 words) of your book (any prose genre). Your cover letter must include your contact information. We don’t need a summary nor your publishing history. We’re looking at the manuscript opening, not the query. This contest is for those who have not yet received a contract for submitted work. Send your work to Writer Advice through Writer Advice Submission Manager. Lynn Goodwin will respond like an agent or editor who is looking for good writing that will sell. You’ll get perspective and insight. The prizewinners will be published. Deadline: 11/10/15. Note from Marlene: Don’t wait until the deadline to…
Sensory Details – Kinesthetic, motion in writing
How do we convey the sense of touch, or feel, or kinesthetic (motion) in writing? “The key to good imagery is engaging all five senses.” Five Types of Imagery: “The five senses: visual, auditory, kinesthetic, olfactory (smell), and gustatory (taste).” Previous posts about using sensory detail in writing: visual, auditory and olfactory. Now, let’s explore using the sense of touch to embellish and enhance writing. Sometimes, the best way to learn is by example, learning from what others have written. “At school, the guilt and sadness were like wearing clothes still damp from the wash,” and “Whenever I moved, I felt as though I were touching something icy.” —Family Life by Akhil Sharma I know what that feels like, so when I read this, I can feel those damp clothes and know what the author wants to convey. Here’s an example of using movement in writing: “By the thirteenth loop,…
Chicken Soup for the Soul always looking for new talent
Have you wondered how Chicken Soup for the Soul chooses their stories? Do you have a story you think might qualify for selection for being published? What you need to know about Chicken Soup submissions: Recipe for A Winning Chicken Soup for the Soul submission A Chicken Soup for the Soul story is an inspirational, true story about ordinary people having extraordinary experiences. It is a story that opens the heart and rekindles the spirit. It is a simple piece that touches our readers and helps them discover basic principles they can use in their own lives. These stories are personal and often filled with emotion and drama. They are filled with vivid images created by using the five senses. In some stories, the readers feel that they are actually in the scene with the people. Chicken Soup for the Soul stories are written in the first person and have…
Sensory Detail – Smell
How do you put the sensory detail of smell in writing? Let’s sniff out ideas. Take a deep breath and imagine the smell of: fresh lemons watermelon chocolate coffee fish – cooked, or freshly caught roast turkey right out of the oven popcorn – movie popcorn with melted butter How would you describe these smells to someone who cannot smell or who never smelled these particular scents? What does a crunchy red apple smell like? Does a red apple smell the same as a green apple? Does an apple smell different if it’s crunchy or mushy? If it’s cold, it might have that earthy smell of a river. Or an apple might smell like a hot summer afternoon in an orchard. Can you put apple smell into words? If you can, walk through an orchard or a field where the earth has recently been plowed. Inhale. Describe that earthy smell….