How to Exercise Your Sense of Smell to Become a Better Writer

 

Some people waste writing time by debating where, how, when and with what to write. Don't waste time! Just write!

One of the most generous actions we can take as writers is to practice writing from a variety of our senses. The most disconnected sense from writing and language is the sense of smell.

 

 It is for this reason I love to use prompts about the sense of smell: to practice my craft and continually get better as a writer. No one can ever stop improving as a writer.

 Sometimes I even get snippets I can use in my “real” writing.

 Are you ready to try this out?

 I will give you five different scent possibilities for you to write from after I share what I wrote, stream of consciousness style, after I created the prompt. By the way, stream of consciousness style means one writes without thinking. You accept whatever comes off the tip of your pencil or your fingers on the keyboard is absolutely right as it is.

 No crossing out, no inner critic shouting at your words to shut up.

 Just write.

 Prompt:

 The smell of pancakes speaks to me, “everything is going to be all right, you are safe. Pancakes can be trusted, like the old lady next door who knows all the comings and goings yet simultaneously minds her own business.”

 My children love Mrs. Butterworth’s syrup on their pile of pancakes because she is a character from my childhood table. They want to look into the mirrors inside the mirrors inside the mirrors of their DNA, stacked and stretched across the centuries from one table to the next to the next.

 Now it is your turn:

The smell of pancakes speaks to me –

The smell of freshly mown grass speaks to me –

The smell of pavement after rain on a hot summer’s day speaks to me –

The smell of a doctor’s waiting room speaks to me -

The smell of my love’s sweaty t-shirt speaks to me –

Choose at least one to write and then just write.

Extra dare: choose more than one prompt and write, write, write!

= = =

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© 2013 by Julie Jordan Scott

 

 

 

This is my twenty-sixth post (of 31!) for the January Ultimate Blog Challenge. Watch here for challenge posts which will include Writing Prompts, Writing Tips and General Life Tips and Essays.