Now that you’ve been writing for a week or so, I hope you’ve gotten used to the practice. If you made it all seven days, congratulations. If you only made it three or four, congratulations. You are now a bonafide author.
“Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader—not the fact that it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon.”
― E.L. Doctorow
In writing class, we start our work with description. Painting a picture in your readers’ heads is essential to getting buy-in from said reader. Sensory detail may seem like an elementary place to start, but there actually isn’t a better place that exists.
**For our pre-write today, choose a food with which you feel an emotional connection. Is it mac-n-cheese because your grandma made it for you when you’d stay with her? Is it a t-bone steak because you’re like me and steak night was once a month? Is it tapioca pudding with nuts in it because you hate nuts, but no one seemed to care? Whatever the food may be, tap into the emotions that surround it. Think of this food with all of the senses, and dive into a description. Remove the name of the food, and let the reader experience it from your perspective.
When my students do this, they have fun with things like peanut butter, celery, pizza. In many case, peanut butter is the aggressor in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. When celery is chosen, it’s simply a vehicle for what we really want in our mouths. When pizza is described, it’s often times a lifeboat in a world of drowning. Have fun with this prewrite. Take five minutes to write this and no long. Go!
Now, read over your description. Is your mouth watering? Would a reader see this food the way you do? Have you evoked emotion? Did you let the reader experience what it’s like to let their taste buds and nostrils join together in the harmony of the feast? Have you properly feasted on this description? If your answers to those are “no”, go back in and add a layer of personality to the food. Oftentimes, giving something like peanut butter a stubborn streak or mac and cheese a psychiatrist-level demeanor of comfort will really drive your piece home.
Assignment #2: Sensory Detail
Now, tap into what exactly made your food description so wonderful, and apply that to a place that means a lot to you. Push yourself to write at least a page of description about the place, a special day there, the people there, what it felt like being in that space. Your place can be real or figurative. Describe it so that the reader understands your relationship with it. Have fun!
