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Why It Matters
Most children only use sight in their writing. Adding sound, touch, smell, and taste immediately makes your writing stand out. Examiners reward writers who engage multiple senses.
Examples
“Sight: The garden was a patchwork of colour — deep purples, fiery oranges, and the soft pink of roses.”
-- Visual“Sound: The leaves whispered overhead, a gentle shushing that made the whole wood feel alive.”
-- Auditory“Touch: The bark was rough beneath my fingers, grooved and ridged like an old man's skin.”
-- Tactile“Smell: The air smelled of woodsmoke and wet earth, with the faintest sweetness of rotting apples.”
-- Olfactory“Taste: Salt coated my lips, and the wind carried the tangy, mineral taste of the sea.”
-- GustatoryIn every descriptive paragraph, try to include at least two different senses. Smell and touch are the most under-used and will impress examiners the most. Pro tip: smell triggers memory — use it to connect present and past.
Practice Exercises
Try these exercises to practise using sensory detail (five senses) in your own writing. Click "Show Suggestions" to see example answers.
1
Describe a bakery using at least three different senses.
The bakery was warm, almost uncomfortably so, and the air was thick with the yeasty, golden smell of fresh bread. Glass cabinets displayed rows of pastries — glazed, dusted, and spiralled with chocolate — while somewhere behind the counter, a timer beeped its urgent, tinny alarm.
2
Describe a rainy day using touch and sound (no sight).
The rain drummed steadily against my hood, a rhythmic tapping that seemed to slow the whole world down. Cold droplets found the gap between my collar and my neck, each one a tiny, icy shock that made me flinch.
Related Techniques
Show, Don't Tell
Instead of telling the reader what a character feels ("She was scared"), showing it through physical actions, sensations, and behaviour ("Her hands trembled and her breath came in short, sharp gasps").
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Creating Atmosphere
Using a combination of setting description, word choice, sentence length, and literary devices to create a specific mood or feeling in a scene.
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Personification
Giving human qualities, feelings, or actions to something that is not human — an object, an animal, or an idea.
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