Sensational can mean many things. It can mean fabulous, trashy, astounding. But that’s not what I’m writing about today. Today, I’d like to focus on sensational as in: sensorial, of the senses. As in: the kind of writing that allows a reader to experience sensations they are not privy to in their normal lives.
I first came across this way of thinking about writing when reading about Bret Easton Ellis and how he wanted to create a truly ‘sensational’ novel, in that exact sense–a novel that would allow the readers to truly, fully, inhabit a character and situation. I’ve been thinking about this ever since.
Sensation in Interiority
The most obvious way to give a reader a glimpse of experience is to go deep, deep, DEEP into a character. This is going deeper than describing what they’re seeing/tasting/feeling/hearing. This is about thoughts and responses, and it’s probably my favorite way to immerse myself into a book as a reader and the most challenging as a writer. The ‘sensation’ of being in another body must be seamless and transparent, which means being ruthless with any kind of filter words.
Example filter words or phrases that would interfere with this kind of immersion: saw, heard, tasted, thought, felt.
Examples for how to avoid (excuse the purple prose):
- Instead of “She saw the birds descend”, say “The birds descended”
- Instead of “This ice cream is yummy, she thought”, say “The ice cream pricked her tongue with honey and roasted caramel and a hint of salt”
Authors who are great at this:
- Bret Easton Ellis, Sally Rooney, Alice Munro, Taffy Brodesser-Akner, Liz Moore, Colm Toibin
Sensation in Place
Readers love to be transported to somewhere else. I certainly do! Let me travel to Italy, France, India. Really, anywhere. All locations that are not my living room offer an eagerly devoured escape. The trick is to seriously lean into the location. Do not skimp on the descriptions! You don’t have to be flowery about it or go on and on, but if you’re in a narrow alley in a city build in the middle ages, make sure to note the details. Is the ground cobblestoned? What color are the buildings? Do they still have carvings from centuries ago? Are they crooked? Does the air have a scent?
Sometimes I read books and I can’t even tell if the action is indoors or out. That is a missed opportunity.
Authors who write place very well:
- Leigh Bardugo (The Ninth House books), Tana French, Alka Joshi, Chris Bohjalian, Dennis Lehane
Sensation in Time
In some ways, this is similar to place. There are places I will never travel to (probably), and they are as remote to me as New York in the Jazz Age. Same rules apply–give the reader as much sensory detail as possible. I want to be able to feel the corsets and smell the horses 🙂. Most historical novelists do an enormous amount of research, and it shows. Immersion is key.
Authors who are masters at time travel:
- Sarah Waters, Caleb Carr, Anne Rice, Mariah Fredericks, Susanna Clarke, Nancy Bilyeau
What is your favorite sensation when you read? Let me know!
Emilya Naymark
Her short stories appear in the Bouchercon 2023 Anthology, A Stranger Comes to Town: edited by Michael Koryta, Secrets in the Water, After Midnight: Tales from the Graveyard Shift, River River Journal, Snowbound: Best New England Crime Stories 2017, and 1+30: THE BEST OF MYSTORY.
When not writing, Emilya works as a visual artist and reads massive quantities of psychological thrillers, suspense, and crime fiction. She lives in the Hudson Valley with her family.
I include smells. To me, they are most evocative. The apple pie baking is trite. We all can imagine what a used bookstore smells like.
yes, that would do it!
I love the concept and examples.
Thanks Connie!
This resonates with me. I’ve noticed many writers no longer use much description, in fact they scoff at the need to describe things for the reader. They’d rather let the reader fill in the blanks! I hate guessing that a character has long blonde hair and then, 50 pages in, find out she’s a short redhead. It’s distracting and shifts me out of the story.
I think possibly that such writers think that providing background and description must always be tedious, but as you mentioned, you don’t have to go on an on. Just pick the most salient details so your reader knows where and when the story is taking place, and what the characters experience with their senses. (As well as what the characters look like!)
i think skimping on those descriptions robs both the reader and the writer!
For me, one of the pleasures of Tana French’s novels, besides her lyrical prose, is how she involves the leader in the sensation of the places. You feel like you’ve experienced them alongside the characters.
I also think it’s worthwhile doing a “find and replace” at the end of a few chapters and taking out words like “thought” to allow the reader to them experience alongside the character.
absolutely! plus, Tana French treats place as a character, so that even hills and trees seem to be sentient. it’s wonderful.