A few weeks ago I attended a literary festival in Tiverton,
Devon and one of the sessions I signed up for was a ‘Historical Fiction
Masterclass’. As you’d expect, the multi-published author running the class covered research, the importance of accuracy and setting, costume etc. Funnily
enough, it wasn’t these aspects that struck me the most, but a very simple
exercise on the importance of using the five senses in our writing.
A fundamental part of the writing process that could well
have been sorely lacking in my own work recently…
Touch, sight, smell, sound & taste are vital in
fiction if you wish to immerse your reader in the time and tone of your story.
The exercise the tutor had us do was simple, but brilliant in getting the
imagination flowing! We had to choose one of the five scenes she pinned on a
board and list three items under the heading of each sense that the scene
provoked.
I chose a desert scene and here are some of the things I
listed:
Sight
Blue skies, sand, camels, stone
Sound
Animals, shouting, whistling winds
Taste
Spices, water, sand
Maybe my instinctive responses aren’t particularly
imaginative BUT they did give me a clear understanding of how the senses need
to be expressed in each and every scene. As I start revisions on my latest historical
novel, I will be much more diligent in where I can enhance the scene by
using each and every sense!
Happy Writing!
Rachel x
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