An Author’s Philosophical Moments
A swirl of colors framed in purple and gold
Have Sense Memories Impacted Your Writing?
What are your earliest and favorite sense memories? Most of us think of the five physical senses as we are experiencing them. The toast looks and tastes all right, but it has a slightly burnt smell…I wish the kids would stop screaming. ..my ears are starting to hurt! I love this faux fabric, it almost feels like my cat’s fur…
THE CREATOR’S SENSORY PERCEPTION
As a writer, artist, or other creative professional, sensory perception can be an important element in shaping a stimulating picture via words or graphic images. We may not be aware of it, but the way an image or scent impacts us personally can greatly impact our work. One of the most effective devices for creating believable images is by consciously drawing on our memories…from childhood to yesterday’s lunch with a friend. This is because referencing something we’ve encountered personally provide a depth of authenticity in whatever work we are undertaking.
THE TRUTH OF ONE’S EXPERIENCE
In our creative work, we do not necessarily have to reveal our personal circumstances in order to truthfully shape a sensory experience for the benefit of our readers, listeners, or the general public who may be viewing our canvases in an art gallery. Of course, that may not be true if we are presenting a work that is a memoir or similar person experience for which we are obligated to reveal this specific aspect of our lives. In short, the truth of our sensory experiences can be shared without revelation of the circumstances in which they occur. Isolating the occurrence from the original circumstance can encourage us to revisit the specifics of what we saw, smelled, heard, touched, and/or tasted with greater accuracy and inspiration with those with whom we are sharing the moment.
For example, while we may wish to describe the beauty of a star-lit night from our honeymoon, we do not need to provide details of the personal circumstances in which we viewed it. Even when we need to describe something we have not experienced, it can be useful to seek out the concrete stories of those who have shared its impact on them with us. Such images can arrive at our doorstep from a book, movie, newspaper article, radio or television program. And, provided we observe the rules (and laws) of plagiarism in how we approach the use of our inspiration we can certainly draw upon them in our own endeavors.
When I was writing the first of the Natalie Seachrist Hawaiian Mysteries, Prospect for Murder, I needed to describe Shanghai, China, in the 1920s. To do so in PFM, I drew upon the memories of people whose fascination with the city transcended the actual era in which they had traveled there. Despite their degree of positive or negative reactions, I was able to utilize their perspectives of the images of the extant buildings, bustling streets, and the aromas they encountered in their sojourns.
In Murders of Conveyance, the third NS mystery [winner for Fiction Adventure-Drama in the 2019 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards], my Natalie overhears a conversation in a Chinese dialect from outside of the building in which she is standing. I’m sure we can all think of times when we have accidentally overheard a conversation, whether in a language we speak or not. When I moved to Honolulu at the beginning of the 1970s, there were many occasions in which I heard languages I could not understand, nor even identify. Because I needed my heroine to feel connected to foreign dialogue, I inserted phonetic sounds that allowed Natalie to guess that they might be referencing someone she knew.
STIMULATING VOCABULARY
Sometimes we are fortunate to be able to utilize vocabulary or pictures that effectively mimic the images we wish to share. I find that words and phrases can bring clarity to a description, sometimes reaching beyond a single sense: wispy; fiery; wrinkled; staccato; fragmented; shrunken; glassy; thundering rain clouds; fire alarm. While the phrase elegant jewelry may signify a strand of even synthetic pearls with rhinestones to one woman, another may envision gemstones. Vintage clothing could generate a 1970s disco scene to a Gen Beta girl, whereas someone my age may envision a Roaring Twenties flapper dress (that’s from one hundred years ago).
As we slip into a peaceful moment of experiencing a fond memory, we may find ourselves thinking again of the creative work we face…What kind of mood are we desiring our audience to experience?
