It can be hard to pinpoint what makes description “work” for the reader. It can be said for some of them that it’s a matter of having it “feel” a certain way. It evokes something they often can’t describe. That elusive “thing” is a combination or all of what we would call sensory detail. These would include, as you might’ve guessed, visuals, sounds, textures or feelings, sometimes tastes or flavors, and potentially smells. The key is to use the right sense(s) in the appropriate context. This blog will serve as a guide to help you understand the importance of how to write sensory details and what makes them so integral.
Why Should You Know How to Write Sensory Details?
Sensory details are the things mentioned above, but it can be important to see them in action. Below you will observe the difference between a vapid scene description and a vivid one. Try to identify the differences and what makes one work better than the other.
The water was moving gently under a cool breeze. I watched a young man propose to the woman beside him. He got down on one knee and the next moment she was in his arms. I think she was crying, but I was standing far away on the deck of the cottage. There were people standing all around, cheering. I wanted to be her, I thought.
Vs.
The mist from the water hit my face and made my lips purple from the cold wind swooping off the lake. The sun was setting, but the clouds were a mass of gray. My feet were going numb; I was wearing sandals. I could feel the tiny pebbles of sand still grinding between my toes. I watched as the young man, wearing an open white blouse, got down on one knee, presenting his woman with a glinting diamond ring. She put her hands on her face and nodded profusely. Then he stood up and took her in his arms, twirling them around in celebration. My gut bloated with envy. I chewed my lip and tapped the wet wooden railing before quickly turning around and going inside, as the rain and hail shot down, striking the deck like rocks, sounding like gunshots.
The first description is a lot more brief, but it also precludes all of the sensory details, besides some visuals, that make the second paragraph really stand out. It has everything but taste and smell. As a challenge, try to add these two elements into the above paragraph, or make an entirely new one on your own.
Let’s list out some of the details here and the sense they correspond with:
Clouds a mass of gray (visual)
Pebbles of sand between toes (texture or feeling)
Striking the deck like rocks, sounding like gunshots (sound)
There are others, but you get the gist.
What is the Best Way to Learn How to Include Sensory Details?
The way that I prepared myself to write sensory details was to go outside somewhere and observe my surroundings. I didn’t even use a pen and paper, I just sat there and thought about things that I could feel, hear, smell, touch, and taste. It helps if you go to a café to get a drink and something to eat so you have tastes and smells to describe. In your head, describe those sensations. Get used to just observing; have a curious mindset about things.
The next step would be to write these things down as they come. Don’t think too much about any of it at first. Just describe things, like a scientist would one of their observations in a laboratory. Be objective and unemotional. Change up the setting and move around; your goal is to have a dynamic inventory of objects and sensations to describe. It’s also typically easier to describe things you can see, so try to bring your attention to other sensory details that are neglected or taken for granted.
Finally, after practicing using the writer’s version of the scientific method, you can now apply it to some creative exercises. Note that you can always freehand a scene description and focus on sensations, but feel free to use the exercises below to help get you started:
Describe a loaf of bread that just came out of the oven without describing what it looks like.
You step into a flower shop with a blindfold on…
You jump into a freezing lake but you can’t feel your body…
You see your partner kissing another person…
Describe in third-person, a man who walks through a hospital psychiatric ward after learning that he’s just won the lottery
Is There Such Thing as Too Much Sensory Detail?
Probably, yes. There can be too much of a good thing, that’s a concept we can agree upon. With sensory description, you don’t want to oversaturate your scenes and moments with every sensory detail. It doesn’t make much sense to invoke your sense of smell in an epic car chase (although maybe one of you can figure out a way to make it work). Additionally, some scenes are better when they are minimal, when the reader doesn’t know much; when more is up to the imagination with subtle clues and intentionally obfuscated detail or lack thereof. This is the art of storytelling. You as a writer have to decide what works and what doesn’t. No one else can do that for you.
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