Every writer needs a way to refresh their memory when it comes to the basics of writing. This can range from how to break a relationship with writer's block to identifying and destroying the adverbs in their prose.

I will try to help you develop a mini-reference by offering information on a number of subjects. Included at the end of each article will be a few questions designed to tell you how well you have retained what you have read.

Topic: Inviting your readers into the story by way of their senses. We writers have to use all of our senses - all eight of them - to achieve this for our audience. What are the eight senses?

1. Hear
2. See
3. Feel
4. Smell
5. Taste
6. Sense of time
7. Sense of space
8. Sense of the unknown

As you write your story, you want your reader to be able to hear the sounds in the environment (cars, birds, planes, thunderstorms). They should be able to see what the environment looks like, the clothes your character is wearing. They should be able to feel the silk of a slip or the coarse nap in the burlap.

How about the dinner your character is cooking. Don't just say lasagna…describe the layers of pasta, tomato, mushroom, garlic, ground beef and hot Italian sausage slices covered in Mozzarella and Ricotta cheeses melting to a golden brown. That takes care of the senses of smell and taste.

Now…about those last 3 senses…use them to add depth to the story. You can do this in a number of ways:

Sense of time can be given by describing an article of clothing. It can also be picked up by whether or not the character has a microwave to cook in or uses a fireplace. You have described the time period without using dates, which is also another way but may not achieve the same effect.

Sense of space is used to describe the different areas that your characters find themselves in. This may be described as a cramped back seat of an old taxi or the vast holdings of a rich uncle's estate. Whatever it may be, your reader should feel that they are in that space too.

The sense of the unknown is used to express danger. How is your character feeling in a certain situation or in the environment? Let your reader experience the sheen of moisture as the character listens to the footsteps in the hallway suddenly stop at her door just as she remembered she hadn't locked it. Let them sense her fear as that knob turns and a tiny beam of light penetrates the darkness of the room as she covers her mouth to muffle a scream.

l. Which one of the following is not one of the senses?

(a) see
(b) talk
(c) touch
(d) hear

2. Circle the total number of senses a writer uses in their story: 3, 5, 8, 9, 6

3. In describing an article of clothing, which sense would you be using?

(a) sense of space
(b) sense of time
(c) sense of the unknown.

4. Which sense would you use in describing fear?
(a) sense of time
(b) taste
(c) sense of the unknown.

5. If you describe the size of the place you are living in – which sense would you be using?
(a) taste
(b) sense of unknown
(c) sense of time
(d) sense of space.

Write a paragraph using all of the senses. Try using the power of suggestion. Instead of naming the sense, describe it. For those of you who have access to the world-wide-web, take the free online writing course: http://fiction.4-writers.com/. Quiz answers are below. Keep Writing!

Answers to quiz:
(1) b
(2) 8
(3) b
(4) c
(5) d

Permission granted by http://writersvillage.com, (Writers Village University) to reference copyrighted material.

For those of you who have access to the world-wide-web, take the free online writing course: http://fiction.4-writers.com/