Most writing is enhanced by using the sense of touch, smell, taste, hearing and sight throughout the story. Although writers frequently use sight in description, the other senses are often neglected. Yet they can add depth of emotion and atmosphere to a short story, as well as allowing readers to better experience the characters’ feelings.
Each of the five senses can be added at relevant scenes, which allows the writer to show rather than tell the reader what is happening. The following are only some suggestions as to how this might be achieved in writing a romantic short story.
The Sense of Sight
It helps if a writer can mentally see a setting and the people involved, before starting to write a short story.
- Visualise the romantic setting. Is the couple alone? What can they see?
- Describe the weather. Is it raining, cloudy, wintry, or sunny?
- Mention the time of day. It could be morning, afternoon, or a moonlit evening.
- Give a snapshot view of the surroundings. Where are they? Perhaps in a restaurant, at a beach, or in a hotel.
The Sense of Hearing
It is advisable for the writer to get to know the main characters and listen to them speak in their individual voices before writing about them.
- Each character should have a recognizable voice and the dialogue should move the story forward.
- Mention the background sounds. There could be rain, the wind stirring leaves, a waterfall, or gentle waves on a beach.
- Use music to set a scene. It might be a classical concert, a darkened jazz club, an intimate dinner for two with soft piano music.
The Sense of Smell
Use the unique smells of a country or location, and think about any particular scent of the characters.
- Sense of smell is powerful, evoking atmosphere or memories. Perhaps strawberries could remind a heroine of other summers.
- Perfumes, after-shave, tweed, flowers, newly-mown grass and lemons are just some of the most emotive scents in romantic fiction.
- The setting could be known for a particular aroma, such as the canals in Venice.
The Sense of Touch
The most obvious use of touch is between the two main characters in a romantic short story, but this can be enhanced for the reader by making it a more sensory experience.
- Let the reader feel the texture of clothes, like the satin of a dress, the rough tweed of a man’s jacket.
- Describe the smooth skin, the silky hair, the sensuous lips.
- Show the touch of a hand, the pebbles on a beach, the coolness of waves on bare feet.
The Sense of Taste
Experience the taste of any food and drink the characters will consume and use sensory description to convey it to the reader.
- Describe the sudden dryness of a nervous mouth, or the taste of salty tears.
- Convey the taste of a slippery oyster, the tang of lemons, the melting sensation of chocolate and the coldness of ice cream.
- Think of the tip of a tongue tasting a partner’s lips.
The ideal way to write a romantic short story is to arouse all the senses in a reader by using the five senses in the characters’ story. By fully engaging the reader in the hero’s or heroine’s experiences, their story will be far more meaningful and satisfying.
As an exercise in using the five senses in writing romantic fiction, try to describe a passionate kiss between two main characters using as many of the senses as possible. It should add much more emotional depth to such a scene.
RES101
Rosemary Gemmell - Professional freelance writer of published short stories and articles in the UK, US and online. Author of historical romance and ...
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