UNIVERSAL SCHOLASTIC ACADEME

Sinisian East, Lemery, Batangas

Creative Writing
MODULE 2 : SENSORY DETAILS IN WRITING (Week 2)

I. INTRODUCTION

Sensory details include sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste. Writers employ the five senses to
engage a reader's interest. If you want your writing to jump off the page, then bring your reader into the world
you are creating. When describing a past event, try and remember what you saw, heard, touched, smelled, and
tasted, then incorporate that into your writing. Sensory details are used in any great story, literary or not. Think
about your favorite movie or video game. What types of sounds and images are used? What do your favorite
characters taste, smell, and touch? Without sensory details, stories would fail to come to life. When sensory
details are used, your readers can personally experience whatever you're trying to describe, reminding them of
their own experiences, giving your writing a universal feel. A universal quality is conveyed when the writer is
able to personally connect with the readers. Another note about sensory details: there is no one sense that's more
important than another. It all depends on the scene you're trying to create. However, imagery, the sight sense, is
a common feature in vivid writing.

II. OBJECTIVES

At the end of this module, you are expected to:

 Explain sensory details;
 Identify the importance of sensory details in creative writing; and
 Exercise the use of sensory details in writing.

III. DISCUSSION

Sensory details in writing is the ability of the writer to a gripping and memorable story that has
much to do with engaging our five senses. It also the words or phrases that describe the content of the text
vividly. It adds power to writing and gives a more sensory experience that allows the readers to have a velar
mental picture of the scene or subject being describe. Without visual details, writing would be dull and plain. In
creative writing, one must always remember to use words or phrases that appeal to the five senses to sustain the
interest of the readers.

Sensory details include sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste. Writers employ five senses to engage
the reader’s interest. If you want your writing to jump off the page, then bring your reader into the world that
you are creating. When describing a past event, try and remember what you saw, heard, touched, smelled, and
tasted, then incorporate that into your writing. Sensory details are used in any great story, literary or not. Think
about your favorite movie or video game. What types of sounds and images are used? What do your favorite
characters taste, smell, and touch? Without sensory details, stories would fail to come to life. Sensory words are
more powerful and memorable than ordinary words because they make your reader see, hear, smell, taste, or
feel your words. When reading non-sensory words, your brain processes text. But when you read sensory words
different areas of your brain light up. Your brain processes sensory words as if you taste a sweet cake, as if you
see a dazzling display of colors, as if you feel a rough texture.

Sensory Words

 Words related to sight indicate colors, shape, or appearance. For instance: gloomy, dazzling, bright,
foggy, gigantic.
 Words related to touch describe textures. You can use them to describe feelings and abstract concepts,
too: gritty, creepy, slimy, fluff, sticky.
 Words related to hearing describe sounds. For instance: crashing, thumping, piercing, tingling, squeaky.
Often these words mimic sounds—that’s when they’re called onomatopoeic.
 Taste and smell are closely related. Most taste and smell words are easy substitutes for bland words like
good, nice, or bad. For instance: zesty, tantalizing, sweet, stinky, stale.
 Motion is sensory, too. By using active words or describing movement, you help your readers
experience your words. For instance: vibrating, soaring, mind-boggling, staggering, bumpy.
List of sensory phrases

Sensory power words #1: Visual words

Gigantic Hazy
Teeny-tiny Shadowy
Bulky Gloomy
Glitter Drab
Sparkling Murky
Shimmering Dull
Shiny Knotty
Glowing Vibrant
Crooked

Sensory power words #2: Tactile words

Fluffy Crisp
Gritty Hairy
Rough Chilled
Smooth To stifle
Slimy Woolly
Sticky Crisp
Creepy

Sensory power words #3: Auditory words

Buzz To sizzle
Hubbub To hiss
Humming To shriek
Faint Snappy
Deafening Boom!
Squeaky Roaring
Earsplitting Thundering
Serene Crunchy

Sensory power words #4: Words related to taste and smell

Bland Bitter
Rotten Yummy
Fragrant Lipsmackingly
Stale Pungent
Juicy Zesty
Stinky Sweet
Gooey Spice

Sensory power words #5: Motion words

Soaring Shocking
To resonate To grab
To breeze through Jaw-droppingly good
Staggering Turbulent
Blown away Choppy
Paralyzed Swirling
Eye-popping To wriggle
Gobsmacked

Let’s look at sensory details in action.

Compare the following passages describing a trip to the grocery store.

A passage without a sensory details:

 “I went to the store and bought some flowers. Then I headed to the meat department. Later I realized I
forgot to buy a bread.”

Revised version with the addition of sensory details:

“Upon entering the grocery store, I headed directly for the flower department, where I spotted yellow
tulips. As I tenderly rested the tulips in my rusty shopping cart, I caught a whiff dried eucalyptus, so I added the
fragrant forest green bouquet of eucalyptus to my cart. While heading to the meat department, I smelled the
stench of seafood, which made my appetite disappear.”

Writing with a senses is an important part of writing well. Adjectives bring writing to life and pull the
reader into the text and help activate his or her imagination. Sensory details help the reader feel like he or she
was there and create a more intimate connection to the narrator or writer and a greater understanding of the text.
Adjectives help set mood and tone in the text and help establish a strong voice.

It is important to remember that human beings learn about the world through using the five senses.
They are our primary source of knowledge about the world. Therefore, writing which incorporates vivid,
sensory detail is more likely to engage and affect the reader. The following writing sample uses sensory detail
to create concrete images. Because the most effective way to incorporate sensory detail is to use all five senses
in harmony, this sample provides an effective example of how sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste work
together to strengthen writing. Each of the views highlights exactly how each sense is involved in improving the
paragraph's imagery.

IV. REFERENCE

Ellorimo, R. (December 12, 2020). Creative Writing. Retrieved from:

https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/rhinautan/creative-writing-76208225

Henneke (December 12, 2020). Enchanting Marketing. Retrieved from:

https://www.enchantingmarketing.com/sensory-words/

Prepared by:

Mr. CHARLIEMAR S. AGUELO

SHS Instructor
 UNIVERSAL SCHOLASTIC ACADEME
Sinisian East, Lemery, Batangas

Name: Score:
Section:
Creative Writing
ACTIVITY SHEET
MODULE 2

1. Write down all the words/adjectives you can think (aside from the given example on the module)
that appeals to the senses. One point will be given for appropriate word given.

SIGHT SMELL TASTE HEARING TOUCH

2. Write the sensory details you can come up with the picture below.

SIGHT SMELL TOUCH HEARING

3. Write an essay about the picture in activity 2 and insert all the sensory details you wrote in the
table. (10 points)
Note: You may write your answer at the back. n