Ever read a book that becomes so palatable, you feel as though the writer has transported you? Almost as if you’re breathing the same air as the characters? I enjoy when a story’s world is so plausible and tangible, I don’t want the story to end. It lingers in my mind long after the last chapter. Books such as: Jane Erye (Thornfield and the misty hills feel haunting whenever I think of Jane walking back from the errand to the post office.) Most of Jane Austen’s novels especially Pride and Prejudice (but who would want to leave the hillsides in Derbyshire and the estate at Pemberley?)
I’ve been contemplating ways to make my fiction more sensory like these stories. Where details come to life and sweep me into the story’s world. I’ve read, listened, and learned from great writers on how to make a world tangible to the reader-a craft I’m constantly working on.
One common thread about how to accomplish this that many writers share, especially the ones featured in Masterclass such as Neil Gaiman, Amy Tan, and Joyce Carol Oates, is writing observations in a notebook wherever they go.
Live and record the world around you.
Neil Gaiman describes observed ideas he’s written in a notebook as, “rotting away on a compost heap of my imagination. They’re there if I need them.” He doesn’t necessarily use all of the observations from his life, but I’m sure he has used several.
After all, no matter if we’re writing sci-fi or fantasy, historical fiction, or contemporary romance, we’re still explaining the world we live in. Fiction is an avenue to understand reality.
A few months ago, I was on a walk with my husband on a particularly foggy morning. Another pedestrian, passing by us on the other side of the road, said, “Soupy day, huh?” I asked my husband what soupy means. “Foggy,” he said.
I’m not from Oklahoma, so I hadn’t heard that saying before. But I wrote it in my notebook, then later used it in my book. It not only described the weather but a minor character’s voice. And hopefully, the reader felt even more grounded to the South since it’s not something you’d normally hear in Northern Michigan (where I grew up.)
Ever experienced something deeply moving, even traumatic, or poignant? Write it in a notebook or journal when you can. Observe how you felt. How others felt. The sensory details- maybe the overly sweet smell of Stargazer lilies at a funeral. The train whistling buzz and strange stillness before a tornado.
This provides universal inspiration for your own stories to help articulate through vivid detail and deep understanding what was occurring in that poignant moment. It’ll feel that much more grounded in the real world and hopefully usher the reader into that moment and further into your story. And that for any reader is worth the time to read.
Let’s practice!
EXERCISE:
1.) Go run errands and record conversations, mannerisms, fashion, or other observations in a notebook or on your phone.
2.) highlight anything that particular inspires you or caught your attention long after you observed it and recorded in your notebook.
3.) Share any observations below in Comments.