the craft. the five senses.

There is such a small part of feature magazine writing that I fell in love with as a kid. It was those first beginning paragraphs where the writer would always describe the scene in which they interviewed the subject. Normally something to the effect of:

“Adorned in a fur-length mink, Artist A strutted into a small rooftop lounge a few minutes later than our agreed time. Flanked with a publicist and other members of their entourage, they extended a manicured hand for me to shake. It was their favorite spot in Soho, one they were adamant about keeping between us, so that it could remain a safe haven. The GRAMMY-winning Artist took a deep breath of the air, thick with the scent of barbecue as we started to discuss their forthcoming album.”

You know, something like that! Lol. But it was always to set us up for what was to come. It grounded the reader in the story so they could feel like they too were having the conversation at a spot in Soho. It’s a device that you learn is important when learning how to write feature stories. In everything you write, description is a major key and honestly, one of the most important things to conquer.

I think as writers, specifically living in the 21st century, we are competing with so much more than our predecessors. I mean, there is social media, one hundred million streaming services, video games, and the list goes on. The attention span of someone reading a feature length article or a book, for that matter, has waned significantly. So, I think it’s almost more important now than ever, to ensure that we are finding captivating ways to tell our stories.

Visual descriptions are most common, right? We are often telling the reader all about what we see. We tell them the person is tall or strong, the house is messy or meticulous. We describe the window treatments or the floors.

In The Power to Write, Caroline Joy Adams says this of visual details:

“Offer your readers details of a setting’s or character’s looks that are the most interesting, relevant, telling, and compelling - and leave out those details that do not increase the feeling of intrigue or further the reader’s understanding of the characters and their conflicts.”

This attention to the details helps to answer that age old question of how much detail is too much? Have you ever been reading a work of literature and thought, what are they talking about after reading paragraphs and paragraphs of description? When we use our description as an element to move our story forward, we can make sure we’re not wasting words. Being bogged down by description only affects your pacing.

With visual details being the most obvious for those of us who are not visually impaired, sometimes we forget about the other senses when it comes to grounding readers in our work.

What did it sound like? Sound is an element I think we don’t utilize enough. Throughout the day we hear a multitude of sounds, again, if we are not hearing impaired. Even as I sit writing in relative quiet, I can hear the low hum of the refrigerator, and street noise wafting up three floors. It’s rarely ever totally quiet. It’s interesting to investigate what your characters may be hearing in a particular scene that isn't obvious. Even what a superhero may be hearing that everyone else doesn’t.

How did it feel? Externally. We know how to write about the interior feelings of a character without hindrance. But how are you exploring physical touch in your work? It may be how characters are interacting with one another. She brushed her soft hand along his arm leaving a trail of goosebumps. But then you can also have a character that’s interacting with the setting. The sharp edge of the coffee table drove into his thigh, piercing the helpless flesh. Ouch. I know my thighs have an affinity for sharp edges.

How did it smell? When I think about smell, I often think about my house growing up. It always smelled like one of those carpet powders. My mom vacuumed on schedule, okay? While I feel like friends’ houses had a myriad of smells, sometimes food, sometimes stale, our house smelled like mountain essence. This is something I could easily drop into a story that would tell the reader something about the character solely based on this description.

What did it taste like? This is sometimes the hardest one to incorporate lest we are particularly talking about a chef. Lol. However, it’s still an element that can be explored. For instance, the mashed potatoes sat on her tongue like paste. Or something to the effect of, as the blood filled his mouth, there was the sharp taste of metal and salt.

We’ve talked about descriptive writing overall, but I wanted to open up the idea around senses a bit more. As a writing exercise this week, see if you can write a short piece where you are focused most on the four senses, sound, taste, touch, feel. Of course, there will be visual descriptions in there, but this is just a fun way to expand our limits.

Writing/Job Opportunities

Ryan Reed is accepting pitches at Spin. Weird ideas welcome. Essays, profiles, lists, whatever. ryan.reed@spin.com.

Mark Yarm is looking for Gen Z-related tech pitches. Profiles, trends, whatever. Same rates/details apply. .33/word for essays; .50/word for reported pieces. No deadline for pitches. mark.yarm@buzzfeed.com.

Slate is hiring an Associate Editor to help oversee culture coverage. ($69-80K).

NPR is hiring a Climate & Health Reporter (1-yr grant funded, $102.5K).

Axios is hiring an Associate Editorial Director, Events.

Parade.com is hiring an Associate Editor. ($55-70k).

Layered Butter is accepting submissions. ($100-$500).