Wednesday, January 5, 2011

What Smells?


Oh, good! You found us! Did you follow the aroma of the ginger cookies? Have one, and there's some spiced cider on the stove. I thought of holding the Write Stuff Workshops in the old library, but one room was musty and the other had the tang of Pine Sol. Besides, this setting is cozier. Don't you love the pine cones sizzling in the fireplace? Get comfy and we'll start.

Once, when we were selling our house, the Realtor told me the first thing people notice is how a place smells. He suggested having a package of Rhodes frozen rolls on hand. Whenever he called, I popped one in the oven to fill the kitchen with the aroma of fresh baked bread. Instinctively folks felt warm and welcome, happy memories triggered by the scent.

Writing for all five senses makes a scene come alive. I wrote this paragraph for a family history called Bagley Beginnings.

Plague victims were hauled outside the walls of the city like garbage, heaped next to piles of spoiled cabbages, and sheep carcasses. Small brown pigs (that had started off pink) were rutting around a stagnant pond, while men took barrels from the back of a cart and sloshed lumpy contents into the putrid slime. Unwashed clothes clung to their sweaty bodies, and they exhaled breath of rotting teeth and garlic chewed to ward off the disease.

This is an example of show don't tell. With vivid words, readers can tour the setting for themselves, which is much more fun than hearing a narrator tell about his trip to medieval England. Wouldn't you rather visit than just hear about it?

An odor can be pleasing or repulsive. What are some words that evoke familiar smells for you? I'll start the list: week-old gym socks, a dead skunk, pink Baby Magic lotion.

Now it's your turn: In your writing, remember The nose knows. And please leave something smelly in a comment!

11 comments:

Cathie said...

A rotten potato

Anonymous said...

Tide detergent.

I don't have a blog, but I'm a regular reader. Kaye

Raejean said...

I definitely like the smell of rolls better than putrid trash! Thanks for the lesson on showing instead of telling.

HandiGrammi said...

Let's talk about wonderful, evocative ones: Lilacs! A wonderful sign of spring in the Northeast, the beauty that meets the eye is what also meets the nostrils. Once I read a book that described the lilacs in a vase on a dining table and the distinctive aroma was not even mentioned -- the author lost lots of credibility at that point.

Christie said...

Fresh cut grass. Brownies baking in the oven. The chlorine in the air at a swimming pool.

I like this game. Might play it all day in my head.

the wrath of khandrea said...

crayola crayons.

melted butter.

rose water.


i love it! each one of those literally conjures up an immediate image. a place, a memory, a routine... fantastic.

now teach me how to smell drakaar noir and not think of making out in a minivan...

~Kristina said...

A crackling bonfire.

Little Red Hen said...

Newly cut grass on a summer night.

polly said...

i can't smell anymore and i miss it, but i remember my honeysuckle vine in June. It would almost hit me with its scent as i walked up the street. i love obsession cologne. reminds me of dad. lemon and fresh air.

Heffalump said...

I'll go for the bad first:
Clothes left in the washing machine too long that have that just beginning to mold smell...
Teenage boy sweat after a basketball game...

More pleasant smells:
The air just before it rains on a summer evening...
That warm milky smell a newborn baby has after nursing...
Movie Theatre popcorn...
Chocolate chip cookies...

Susan Adcox said...

The tang of the salt air as you near the ocean, the incense of evergreens in a mountain forest, the sweetness of jasmine. . .