One of the exercises I assign in my writing workshop is called “Writing with your 5 senses.” The assignment sounds simple, but it can be challenging:
Use all five senses during a scene. Use the senses in an organic and integral way so that they actually spur action or reaction in a character or characters and aren’t just referred to in the action description. Don’t tell me it’s a breezy day. Cause a character to react to the breeze in a way that furthers the plot. Make him lose a scarf or pick up a stray napkin blown off a table by a stranger (soon, perhaps, to become a love-interest…)
We rarely use the senses of smell and touch while writing. It’s easy to incorporate sound and sight. Those are the two staples of storytelling on screen. But how to include taste, feel, and smell?
When writing through the senses, we become more viscerally involved with our characters. Suddenly, the scene springs to life and we become more connected to the very moment we are in. As in life.
I also assign a “Walking with your 5 Senses” exercise:
Take a walk in your neighborhood. Spend a minute focused on each of the senses. But don’t just think about the sense, “I’m smelling now,” actually be IN the smelling. Experience all the smells. Be in the world through your sense of smell. Go through every sense in this way. When you’ve completed, integrate them all at once and try to experience your surroundings through ALL FIVE SENSES at once. It’s an amazing meditation! Try it many times in a row on a walk and you’ll find yourself so fully present in your body that you’ll feel as if you’ve meditated for an hour!
I have created many games and exercises to help the writer be more present to the moment. With my background in meditation, I have learned to get myself into a deeply connected place when I’m writing. Sometimes I have resistance to starting the process. I’ll do anything - even the dishes! - in order to avoid typing or writing the first word. Having an exercise with an objective can be helpful in getting the creative juices flowing.
I’ll share more ways to access your unconscious mind in the future. For now, happy writing!
May the Force write with you!
-- Anne
Use all five senses during a scene. Use the senses in an organic and integral way so that they actually spur action or reaction in a character or characters and aren’t just referred to in the action description. Don’t tell me it’s a breezy day. Cause a character to react to the breeze in a way that furthers the plot. Make him lose a scarf or pick up a stray napkin blown off a table by a stranger (soon, perhaps, to become a love-interest…)
We rarely use the senses of smell and touch while writing. It’s easy to incorporate sound and sight. Those are the two staples of storytelling on screen. But how to include taste, feel, and smell?
When writing through the senses, we become more viscerally involved with our characters. Suddenly, the scene springs to life and we become more connected to the very moment we are in. As in life.
I also assign a “Walking with your 5 Senses” exercise:
Take a walk in your neighborhood. Spend a minute focused on each of the senses. But don’t just think about the sense, “I’m smelling now,” actually be IN the smelling. Experience all the smells. Be in the world through your sense of smell. Go through every sense in this way. When you’ve completed, integrate them all at once and try to experience your surroundings through ALL FIVE SENSES at once. It’s an amazing meditation! Try it many times in a row on a walk and you’ll find yourself so fully present in your body that you’ll feel as if you’ve meditated for an hour!
I have created many games and exercises to help the writer be more present to the moment. With my background in meditation, I have learned to get myself into a deeply connected place when I’m writing. Sometimes I have resistance to starting the process. I’ll do anything - even the dishes! - in order to avoid typing or writing the first word. Having an exercise with an objective can be helpful in getting the creative juices flowing.
I’ll share more ways to access your unconscious mind in the future. For now, happy writing!
May the Force write with you!
-- Anne
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