Smell and taste are frequently stimulated together. The smell of food, for instance, greatly enhances its flavor. However, taste is a distinct sense from smell and should not be overlooked when describing your characters’ sensory perceptions. There are five well recognized types of taste receptors. These sensations are categorized as sweet, bitter, salty, sour andContinue reading “Exploring the Senses – Taste”
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Exploring the Senses – Olfaction: The Sense of Smell
The sense of smell, more than any of the other senses, can trigger strong emotional memories. The olfactory system is physically wired for it. Unlike the other sensory pathways, the olfactory bulb has a direct connection to the amygdala (emotion) and hippocampus (memory consolidation). When you want to trigger your fictional character’s memory, you mayContinue reading “Exploring the Senses – Olfaction: The Sense of Smell”
Exploring the senses – Hearing
Auditory stimuli have the ability to trigger physical reactions. The calming sound of rolling waves, or the alarming jolt caused by a popped balloon can influence how we act and feel. Sounds, especially music, can also trigger memories. Exercise: To explore hearing, each member of writing group brought a song to listen to. As weContinue reading “Exploring the senses – Hearing”
Exploring the Senses – Vision
I apologize for the neglect. I was hibernating. Now, with spring on my doorstep, I return to sharing my writing life with the world of internet content seekers. Over the next five weeks I’ll share explorations and exercises I did with my writing group in an attempt to incorporate all five senses (vision, hearing, smell,Continue reading “Exploring the Senses – Vision”
First Story of the Lake Spirit
When she was younger, her favorite moments were swimming toward the full moon on a dark summer night. She would follow the trail the moon reflected on the lake, revealing another small part of the golden path after each smooth, silent stroke. She focused on the light, keeping her head above the water and movedContinue reading “First Story of the Lake Spirit”
Creating Fictional Worlds: Not just Sci-Fi and Fantasy
I recently visited the Fantasy exhibit at the EMP museum in Seattle. In addition to the fun and inspirational drawings, costumes, and interactive computer exhibits, they displayed J.R.R. Tolkien’s hand written timeline. It was kind of him to reiterate the point of my previous post (Ha. Ha!). It also spoke to a related aspect ofContinue reading “Creating Fictional Worlds: Not just Sci-Fi and Fantasy”
Nobody’s Perfect
Want to make me not at all interested in a character? Describe him, or her as beautiful and rich. I gave up on Mary Higgins Clark’s mysteries in middle school because I just couldn’t care about the plight of the wealthy, beautiful people any more. Isn’t it enough that they cover the screens of ourContinue reading “Nobody’s Perfect”
Reality T.V. as fuel for character development
How do I develop a villain without making him, or her, a cliché bad guy? Tips I’ve read say to try to make him less one dimensional by giving him quirks and something about him that could be loveable, if he hadn’t gone so wrong. Yes, these tips are good, but why was my villainContinue reading “Reality T.V. as fuel for character development”
Experience Writing 