How to Add Sense Detail to Fiction
Show, don't tell., Let the reader experience the story through the character's senses., Layer details on top of one another to set the mood.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: don't tell.
Use sense detail to describe the story's location and time, the emotional state of the characters and their relationships, instead of stating place, time and mood.
Location:
Describing "ice floes hitting the shore" transports the reader to an arctic environment.
Time:
Describing Christmas decorations helps set the story in December.
Describing roughly dressed peasants holding torches of pitch-soaked rags and shouting curses in French helps set the story during the French Revolution.
Character's emotional state:
Saying "John's eyes bulged and his face turned red" vividly describes John's physical appearance, while implying his anger.
Relationship between characters:
Saying one character squeezes another's hand implies that one is reassuring the other. -
Step 2: Let the reader experience the story through the character's senses.
Not everyone experiences the world in the same way.
Decide how your character perceives the world, and use words that convey that perception.
This will connect your readers to the character.
Instead of describing John's eyes to the reader directly, let your other characters describe them through dialogue.
His girlfriend might call them "dreamy blue," while his enemy might describe them as icy blue shards.
This shows how each sees John and how they relate to him. , Create a series of related details that, taken together, create an image in your readers' minds.
For example, in describing a room, you might start with its size, then describe the windows, and then how light shines through them, what's on the walls that the light illuminates and finally how the air in the room smells. -
Step 3: Layer details on top of one another to set the mood.
Detailed Guide
Use sense detail to describe the story's location and time, the emotional state of the characters and their relationships, instead of stating place, time and mood.
Location:
Describing "ice floes hitting the shore" transports the reader to an arctic environment.
Time:
Describing Christmas decorations helps set the story in December.
Describing roughly dressed peasants holding torches of pitch-soaked rags and shouting curses in French helps set the story during the French Revolution.
Character's emotional state:
Saying "John's eyes bulged and his face turned red" vividly describes John's physical appearance, while implying his anger.
Relationship between characters:
Saying one character squeezes another's hand implies that one is reassuring the other.
Not everyone experiences the world in the same way.
Decide how your character perceives the world, and use words that convey that perception.
This will connect your readers to the character.
Instead of describing John's eyes to the reader directly, let your other characters describe them through dialogue.
His girlfriend might call them "dreamy blue," while his enemy might describe them as icy blue shards.
This shows how each sees John and how they relate to him. , Create a series of related details that, taken together, create an image in your readers' minds.
For example, in describing a room, you might start with its size, then describe the windows, and then how light shines through them, what's on the walls that the light illuminates and finally how the air in the room smells.
About the Author
Teresa Morales
Brings years of experience writing about home improvement and related subjects.
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