Beyond the Usual Five

Cricket McRae

A few years ago I enrolled in a Certificate Program for Advanced Fiction Writers at the University of Washington. It was one of the best things I've ever done for my writing, and it garnered me a kickass critique group to boot. The year-long program was taught by Marjorie Reynolds, author of The Starlight Drive-In, and now a good friend.

Marjorie had a bit of thing about smells, though. As in, every time she'd hand one of my pieces back to me, at least one page would have the notation, "smells?" in the margin. It wasn't just me. It happened to everyone. By the end of classes we all had smells in our novels. Lots of them. And flavors and sounds and sights and texture galore.

Of course, sensory detail in our writing draws the reader in, affords depth to settings and characters and concretizes the story. We knew this, but perhaps didn't employ the full range of senses that we could. And Marjorie was certainly right that smell -- the most primitive of all -- can be the most evocative.

Later, at a nature-writing workshop, participants brainstormed about other senses that went beyond the usual five. And boy, did we come up with an interesting list. I've been adding to it since then, and often use it as a jumping off point for a particular writing exercise in my own workshops.

Here are a few additional "senses" that can add atmosphere, attitude, and depth to fiction and nonfiction alike. Most use the usual sensory organs, but not all.

• Sense of vibration
• Sense of multitudinousness
• Sense of enclosure -- can be comfortable or claustrophobic
• Humidity
• Feeling of lift/fall (as in an elevator)
• Dizziness and/or vertigo
• Speed
• Gravity
• Balance
• Echolocation
• Sick-building syndrome
• Flight sensation
• Air pressure (e.g. ears popping on a plane)
• Numbness (e.g. the effect of clove oil)
• Temperature
• Light and dark
• Presence of another
• Sense of being watched
• Subsonic vibration (e.g. dog whistle)
• Depth perception
• Texture (may be felt, seen, heard or all)
• Feeling like you're still moving after getting out of a car
• Barometric pressure

I'd love to learn about more of these secondary senses and add them to my list. Any suggestions?

Before signing off I want to add that I've waited to announce my new blog, Hearth Cricket, on Inkspot until I had enough posts to give readers a good idea of what it's like. Less practical writing advice, and more musings about writing and the things I write about -- domestic arts, recipes, gardening, local and seasonal eating, fiber art, etc. If that piques your interest, stop on by.