Unbelievably, we are at the half-way point for the First Sentence Friday for THE ROAD TO BITTERSWEET!
When crafting stories, writers are told to use all their senses. This is a part of writing I enjoy because it’s always interesting and fun (and challenging!) to try and think of unique ways to describe what my main characters heard, tasted, saw, felt, or smelled.
One thing I’m quite familiar with, living here in the south where humidity, mold, and mildew reign, is the distinct smell that comes from a crawl space or a cellar. We live in an old house that has a set of brick steps leading down to a door, and once opened, inside is a cement floor (somebody poured at some point) with wood shelves lining each side of the long, narrow space. This is where we store our yard tools, pesticides, and other outdoor type gear. It smells of overturned dirt, old wood, and over a hundred years of living. (The house is approximately 111 years old) While writing, I use what I can, what I know, to try and give readers a realistic experience.
Chapter Fourteen
The inside of the truck smelled dank, the same way our root cellar had smelled.
A Publishers Lunch BUZZ BOOK Fall/Winter 2017, and a SIBA (Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance) Trio Pick for 2018, THE ROAD TO BITTERSWEET releases December 26th, 2017.
***I’m using #FirstSentenceFridays on Twitter and tagging @Kensington Publishing Corporation. Follow along and tweet out/share if you’d like!***
I love the way you employ the senses in order to give us a realistic experience, Donna!
Interestingly enough, smell is one of the senses I seem to marginalize when I write. I don’t know why, but I’m working on improving that. Either way, thanks for your timely words.
Today’s sentence is great, and you always inspire me.
Thinking of you all the time! <3 <3 <3
Thank you, as always, Lilac! Use them all – it will give you many ways to write a scene and really does give readers an up close and personal experience. I appreciate your thoughts! <3 <3 <3
Having grown up a mile from Lake Michigan, boy do I know that musty, dank smell! Your stories do a great job of drawing on all the senses. I have a habit of using smell most often in my descriptions. Smells have a way of triggering distinctive memories. I call them smellmories. 😉
Ha, good one, Eldonna! I agree. On my runs I sometimes catch a whiff of cedar and it instantly reminds me of Maine. (we used to go up there every summer, and it permeated the air b/c my grandfather’s house had a lot of cedar closets aside from what grew outside!) Smellmories – perfect! 🙂