Comments on: How to Write the Sense of Smell https://writersinthestormblog.com/2021/11/how-to-write-the-sense-of-smell/ A Blog On Writing Sun, 22 Dec 2024 03:30:54 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.2 By: zain https://writersinthestormblog.com/2021/11/how-to-write-the-sense-of-smell/#comment-154421 Mon, 29 Aug 2022 16:44:34 +0000 https://writersinthestormblog.com/?p=43913#comment-154421 Some common synonyms of stinking are fetid, fusty, malodorous, musty, noisome, putrid, and rank. While all these words mean "bad-smelling," stinking and fetid suggest the foul or disgusting.

]]> By: zain https://writersinthestormblog.com/2021/11/how-to-write-the-sense-of-smell/#comment-154420 Mon, 29 Aug 2022 16:42:08 +0000 https://writersinthestormblog.com/?p=43913#comment-154420 How to Describe Smell in Writing
Vary your vocabulary. Instead of saying a character smelled something, describe the specific redolence they encounter. ...
Link other senses. Scent is linked to our other senses, particularly taste. ...
Think outside the box. Sometimes smells surprise us. ...
Describe scents in detail.

]]> By: All News, No Schmooze: Sense of Smell https://writersinthestormblog.com/2021/11/how-to-write-the-sense-of-smell/#comment-151288 Mon, 20 Dec 2021 11:04:40 +0000 https://writersinthestormblog.com/?p=43913#comment-151288 […] https://writersinthestormblog.com/2021/11/how-to-write-the-sense-of-smell/ […]

]]> By: dholcomb1 https://writersinthestormblog.com/2021/11/how-to-write-the-sense-of-smell/#comment-151026 Sat, 20 Nov 2021 06:48:50 +0000 https://writersinthestormblog.com/?p=43913#comment-151026 I think when you can describe the smells in a book and the reader is transported to the place or reacts to the smell, you've done your job.

My books are more apt to have smells of florals, food, and perfumes/colognes, etc...

denise

]]> By: lynettemburrows https://writersinthestormblog.com/2021/11/how-to-write-the-sense-of-smell/#comment-151025 Fri, 19 Nov 2021 22:09:13 +0000 https://writersinthestormblog.com/?p=43913#comment-151025 In reply to Ellen.

Yes. The reactions were the fun part.

You did more than okay with examples. And while I agree the editing process seems never ending, I strongly suspect you'll add the right amount of sensory input and find the end.

]]> By: Ellen https://writersinthestormblog.com/2021/11/how-to-write-the-sense-of-smell/#comment-151024 Fri, 19 Nov 2021 20:19:57 +0000 https://writersinthestormblog.com/?p=43913#comment-151024 In reply to lynettemburrows.

A stink bomb. Wow. I'll bet there were some interesting reactions to that Lynette!
I was concerned that I overdid the examples. LOL. I guess I did okay.

I've started reading through each scene and noting where I need more sensory input. The editing process seems never ending.

]]> By: Ellen https://writersinthestormblog.com/2021/11/how-to-write-the-sense-of-smell/#comment-151023 Fri, 19 Nov 2021 20:14:48 +0000 https://writersinthestormblog.com/?p=43913#comment-151023 In reply to Eldred Bird.

Great example, Eldred!

I really enjoyed reading your Karma series.

]]> By: lynettemburrows https://writersinthestormblog.com/2021/11/how-to-write-the-sense-of-smell/#comment-151022 Fri, 19 Nov 2021 19:32:51 +0000 https://writersinthestormblog.com/?p=43913#comment-151022 What powerful examples you used, Ellen. Wow. Has me looking through my manuscript for those hits. And I think I did okay. a total of 93 references to aromas, scents, smells, stench, and stink. Helps to have your characters explode a stink bomb. lol

]]> By: Eldred Bird https://writersinthestormblog.com/2021/11/how-to-write-the-sense-of-smell/#comment-151021 Fri, 19 Nov 2021 18:41:14 +0000 https://writersinthestormblog.com/?p=43913#comment-151021 Thanks for this one, Ellen! I love to use smells in my writing. You're right on the money about them being a powerful memory trigger that can suck a reader right into a scene. One of my favorites from my own work comes from my first book, Killing Karma. It describes James' first step into a thrift store.

A quick twenty-minute drive brought James to his first thrift shop experience. Walking through the door, the realization hit him; this was not going to be his typical shopping trip. The first thing to jump out was the smell. It wasn’t the crisp linen and perfume scent he encountered in the department stores he occasionally shopped in with his mother. It reeked of something a little more . . . well . . . old. The smell reminded him of the house where the aging neighbor lady used to care for him while his mother worked. It made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

]]> By: Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt https://writersinthestormblog.com/2021/11/how-to-write-the-sense-of-smell/#comment-151020 Fri, 19 Nov 2021 18:13:27 +0000 https://writersinthestormblog.com/?p=43913#comment-151020 In reply to Ellen Buikema.

I learned that one from Sol Stein: two to three sensory details seem to be about right, and one should be familiar and one fresh. Not a rule so much as a guideline, because sometimes the best effect is to pile on more, sometimes to select one perfect detail. Or you start to sound like a robot. That's one of the things I love about writing, reaching for that balance.

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