#Sensory Details

[mimzy-writing-online]

Hey, I'm writing a fantasy adventure story with a blind main character, and I was wondering if you have any advice for writing major life events from a blind character's perspective. The main scenes I'm unsure about are a scene where he gets married and a scene where he's in the mountains for the first time. I want to show him enjoying these moments, but I can't use the usual descriptions people use, because he can't see his partner walk down the aisle or see the view from the mountains.

If it’s okay I’m gonna bullet point the sensory details I would notice-

Smell

what the air smells like and how it’s different from home, trees, flowers, rain, which all sounds lovely but there’s also the smell of animal poop, mulch, mud

I would definitely notice the smell of my partner’s cologne/perfume. If I really like someone’s perfume I will actually search for the smell when I’m stressed (happens most with my sister and my mum)

Sound:

Laughing, quiet snuffling, muttering, and overhearing out of context bits of conversations.

Animal sounds, crunching leaves and pine needles, gravel skittering against other gravel on hikes, wind between trees, nearby rivers (especially if it’s recently rained) any sudden thuds of big objects being moved. Snow makes crunching sounds when you walk on it, frosted grass too. It’s also supposed to make environments quieter because snow absorbs sound or softens echoes somehow

I hear that snow is very disorienting when you’re blind, but given how rain makes my entire world sound, feel, smell and look different, I believe it.

Touch

Fabric texture, both my clothes and others when I hug people, how soft/rough or cold/warm the skin of someone’s hand is, the texture of their facial hair (note, this happens when kissing someone, or pressing my hand to my partner’s cheek when I’m being affectionate, and not because of any face touching nonsense)

The feeling of makeup on my skin or the gentle tug of a bobby-pin being moved in my hair. If I need to fix my hair, I use my fingers to feel out what’s in place and what’s coming loose

Also that different floor textures feel different when you walk on them, that floorboards shift and creak under your weight

That’s what my brain has for you tonight

[storiesgoeveron]

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[allnovellas]

Descriptive Writing: Breathing Life into Your Words

Descriptive writing is a literary tool that breathes life into your narrative. It paints vivid pictures in the minds of your readers, immerses them in the world you’ve created, and heightens their emotional engagement with your story. Yet, mastering the art of descriptive writing can be a challenging endeavor. This guide aims to demystify the process, equipping you with valuable techniques to…

[ahb-writes]

Polarized Vision || Unconventional Senses and Sensory Attributes

❯ ❯ Polarized Vision

Interestingly, animals with polarized vision can control the amount of light entering their eyes (or, attenuate the orientation at which light waves oscillate). Many animal species have developed superior navigational skills by basing their efforts on the sun's various positions. In other words, navigating the sky using time-dependent light patterns. Some animals use polarized vision (or polarized-light sensitivity) for "contrast enhancement, camouflage breaking, object recognition, and signal detection and discrimination," according to a research article published in Integrative and Comparative Biology.

When perceiving scattered or refracted light, environmental factors, atmospheric factors, perturbations in the medium (e.g., waves in water), medium quality, and pollution all affect an already highly sensitive manner of pattern discernment.

Human-world applications abound, from fancy sunglasses that enable one to increase visual clarity in high-glare environments to increasing the precision of advanced military technology. In one fantastic example, engineers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign studied the mantis shrimp in extraordinary detail and developed a camera (i.e., a one-inch cube) that mimics the shrimp's use of polarized light as well as the shrimp's capacity to manipulate its detection of light intensity. According to Scientific American, the camera's dynamic emulation of these natural abilities could help cars detect hazards in ambiguous conditions, enable military drones to identify camouflaged or shadowed targets, and help surgeons perform more accurately. It's difficult to state how powerful this new technology is: The engineers' cube camera's light-detection ability was 10,000-times higher than today's commercial cameras (and yes, the tech is already available for cheap, mass production...).

❯ ❯ Adapted from a senses-writing masterpost: 15 Unconventional Senses and Sensory Attributes

[twilight-resonance]

Turning in the Dim

Some regular 'ole journaling, because I feel like I'll think clearer with it done. It's good journaling weather: with the time change, the light's going dim sooner; and the weather's cooler, and it's quiet inside. For now. Good journaling space all around. Plus, it's been a while.

There are different modes of journaling that I do here vs. in my paper journal. I think that's part of the cycle, and why my paper journal has felt somewhat unapproachable. Need to get one type of reflection done to make room for the other. I'm intending to take some time this Wednesday to go out for a hike and take the journal with; that should help. It's been a while, and I desperately need more nature time. Wish I had a way to fit it in.

So how has life been? Busy, in its own way, not that that's unusual. The school year is well underway, and so is work. I've been very pleased with the stories we're running this year so far - they've all been very well constructed on the whole. The current section we're on I'm starting to struggle with, but come to think of it, I think in part that's because it's a hard part to write in any story. Particularly one in which player choice is a major element. It's that transition stage between the opening and the meat of the problem - where they sort of know what's going on, but are only just starting to piece together the problem and how to solve it. Maybe, come to think of it, I should outline larger possible story routes. That might help.

Otherwise - decent, here and there. Finding a way to follow the new rhythm of this year. Hearthsnail is even busier than I am - he's wearing like three or four hats at work this year. I've been more protective of our weekends, given that. One less league to run this year, which helps; fewer birthday parties, and such and so on. I've been quietly trying to take us on at least one date outside the house each month, and we've ended up hanging out with friends about once a month otherwise; and then leaving some time for him to have at home. I still get antsy with two days at home in a row, but staggering things the way we have helps. We've done a renaissance faire, a pumpkin patch with friends, we went up the coast for a day trip together, took a hike up a nearby mountain to see the comet... all good time spent. I should keep that up.

Trying to decide what to do with winter break. Would like to take the time to do something fun. His sister and her family are coming out here for Thanksgiving, so that makes a trip out for family less wanting; plus, I'd like to have the time with him anyway to do something fun. Just going somewhere to go somewhere doesn't appeal to him, and honestly neither to I, so I'm trying to come up with something. Have a few possibilities, but we'll see.

Candlelight is nice. I lit some candles, even before I was writing; just because it would be nice. Warm candles, warm tea, cold room. Cold hair, from showering. Lots of little sensory details. Things I've missed. Might henna-dye my hair tonight, we'll see. Been meaning to, and want to do it before it gets darker with the light. It tends to bleach lighter in the summer, and without the bleaching stays darker in the winter.

Got distracted working on winter break plans, and now I've lost the thread of it. So it goes. Hearthnsnail will be here soon anyway. I'll continue another time soon, I hope.

[xokp]

Lostalgia

View this post on Instagram A post shared by AESTHETIC LOGOPHILE | ANNIE (@aesthetic_logophile) Sometimes I look back on my childhood Summers visiting my mother’s extended family in Blasdell, New York near Buffalo and realize that so much of what was there is gone. Primarily some of the people, but also some of the buildings, parks, homes that I used to visit. When I dwell on it, it can become…

[ancientroyalblood]

The Art of Flashbacks: Using Past Events to Enrich Your Story

In the tapestry of storytelling, the past is not a forgotten thread but a vibrant color that infuses depth and meaning into the narrative. Flashbacks are the writer’s brushstrokes, allowing the past to be a living part of the present story. However, the art of using flashbacks goes beyond mere chronological shifts. It involves a thoughtful, deliberate process of weaving past events into the…

[dfmapa]

How to Bring Your Writing to Life: The Magic of Sensory Details

Writing is an art that allows you to create entire worlds and stories with just a pen and paper, or in our modern age, a keyboard and screen. But have you ever wondered how some writers manage to transport you to another place, making you feel like you’re a part of the narrative? The secret lies in the skillful use of sensory details. Photo by Yannick Pulver on Unsplash Sensory details are the…

[barnabytaylor]

Ten Ways to Set the Scene in Your Novel

Ten Ways to Set the Scene in Your Novel

One of the keys to creating an immersive and believable world in your novel is to effectively set the scene. By establishing the time, place, and atmosphere of your story, you can help your readers to feel like they are truly present in the world you’ve created. Here are ten ways to set the scene in your novel: 1. Use descriptive language. Choose your words carefully to convey the sensory…

[my-autism-adhd-blog]

As an autistic person, I wish I could convey how much energy it takes to exist…

Neurodivergent_lou

[puppyeared]

quiet down small man

[ahb-writes]

Spinal Reflexes || Unconventional Senses and Sensory Attributes

❯ ❯ Spinal Reflexes

Also not considered among the traditional senses, reflexes are important and effective components of sensory stimulus-reaction complexes. Reflexes are involuntary or unintentional (uncontrolled). Each type of reflex response is initiated by sensory stimuli relayed from any of the other major senses. Most importantly, the stimulus itself excites specialized sensory receptors that respond unambiguously to a certain type, quality, or intensity of stimulation.

Interestingly, reflexive actions receive their signals from the spinal cord. This makes them considerably faster than one's normal reactions because they bypass the traditional neural pathway (the brain). Not to say the brain is uninvolved. The brain continuously builds, adapts, and influences spinal circuitry, in both short- and long-term development, and many spinal reflexes operate simultaneously as a result. An overview of the main types of spinal reflexes will include: stretch reflex (muscle contraction), crossed-extensor reflex (opposite limb compensating for loss of support), withdrawal reflex (nociceptive reflex, protecting the body from pain), and autogenic inhibition reflex (negative feedback mechanism to control muscle tension).

"The spinal cord is the simplest and most technically accessible part of the mammalian [central nervous system]. Thus, spinal cord reflexes, the brain's influence over them, and the spinal cord plasticity this influence produces provide the basis of a powerful experimental protocol for studying the mechanisms and substrates of learning." (Encyclopedia of Neuroscience)

❯ ❯ Adapted from a senses-writing masterpost: 15 Unconventional Senses and Sensory Attributes

[izloveshorses]

it’s so beautiful to me that what triggers anya’s memory of her past isn’t some big national secret or something inherently tied to the politics of her family or even her social class, it’s just a simple sensory detail of sitting in a carriage on a hot day and catching sight of a boy running after them

[bittersweetresilience]

I love the great care you give to symbolism, exemplified in the director’s commentary of watership down & The Renjing Fic !!! I love the metaphors your choose, especially relating to hands, birds, and the usual void-like gutting that comes with abandonment, loss, or fear. I love that your prose is both very poetic but succinct at the same time, something honed by doing poetry for so long! love sunny writing 🩵

W... WOAOOAWOAOAOAOOAOwoAOWA?/?!?!!?!?!?! 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 AUTUMN... CAN I KISS YOU...

[incandescent-creativity]

I know @lux-scriptum doesn’t do tag games so I’m subbing in!

@byjillianmaria wanted to see some lines, so here’s what I got from the second half of the SOLE Split!

A line confessing something

“I feel like we’re in over our heads,” Christian confesses. “I mean, I’ve always felt like that, but this feels like a new sort of level.”

A line that sounds strange out-of-context

The Frisbee is a miracle of modern engineering.

A line that makes you emotional

As with most of his strong emotions, Michael does his best to ignore it.

A line you love

After a warm bowl of overpriced but hearty stew and as good a night’s sleep as he can get on a thin motel mattress, Derrick Finnigan is able to get up out of bed the next morning with a better head on his shoulders.

A line that includes a setting description

Water displacement disasters have killed dozens of crews, but the alternative is to let the walls keeping the heightened sea levels out of the city break down, which would kill thousands—if not millions—of people.

[albatris]

oh quinn is a TERRIBLE cook