Writing Tips

• But what about telling the story from the perspective of the big (allegedly) bad wolf?
• What is the shark thinking in Jaws as it relentlessly pursues the three men on the boat that insist on attacking it?
• What does ET actually think of Elliot?
• And how does poor old Darth Vader feel when his beloved son rejects his attempts to reconnect after he was stolen from him at birth, and he’s forced to cut off Luke’s hand to defend himself?

The point of this exercise is to practise placing ourselves in unfamiliar shoes. By forcing ourself to see something from the other’s side, we can bring all of our characters to life, not just the hero. You might never use anything that you write here in your project, but knowing why your villain is doing what they are doing can help you describe their actions more realistically.
Remember the rules:

• Set yourself a time limit.
• Write without stopping, editing or overthinking.
• Write whatever comes to mind and don’t worry if it doesn’t make sense.
• It doesn’t matter if it has nothing to do with the scene that you are stuck on.

Do you have any ideas for busting writer’s block? If so, share them below or on social media.
Until next time, happy writing.
Paul

My character has entered a building where a murder has taken place.

Warren pushed open the door. The room beyond was dim, poorly lit, the only illumination a streetlight. He paused on the threshold, allowing his eyes time to adjust. The details of the room came slowly into focus. Before him was a double bed, covered in tangled white sheets. At first, it appeared empty, but as the shadows and shapes coalesced, the lump underneath the duvet resolved into a small, person-shaped form. What he’d thought was a shadow in the centre of the lump became a dark stain.

The next easiest sense to describe is hearing. What does the character hear? Rewrite the scene focusing solely on the sound.

Warren pushed open the door. The hinges squeaked and the bottom of the door made a sliding noise against the thick carpet. What struck him first was the stillness. The electricity had been disconnected days ago and no appliances hummed; it was as if the house was holding its breath. As he waited for his eyes to adjust, he became aware of the shuck of distant vehicles on the wet tarmac of the nearby road. Somewhere a tap dripped, the only sign of life in the whole building. That and the faint rustle of his breath in his surgical mask.

The remaining three senses are trickier to describe, and might not be relevant to the scene you are writing. But you’d be surprised what you can come up with.

First, touch.

Warren pushed open the door. He felt the slight resistance as the bottom of the door pushed against the carpet. His hands were sweaty inside his latex gloves, and he was uncomfortably aware of his warm breath, trapped within his face mask. The bedroom window had been left ajar, and the cool night breeze ruffled his hair.

Taste and smell are very similar senses that often overlap. For obvious reasons, Warren won’t be licking anything he comes in contact with, but I can still find something.

Warren pushed open the door. He licked his top lip, coated in the salty tang of his sweat. From the moment he’d entered the house, his nose had hinted at what he would find. Now, standing on the threshold of the room, the smells familiar to every homicide detective filled his senses. The heavy metallic odour told him what had caused the dark stain in the centre of the duvet, and the sweet cloying stench informed him that whatever horrors had occurred here had taken place a couple of days previously.

The final step in this exercise is to take the best bits of each paragraph and blend them into a single passage. Be ruthless, and don’t feel you have to shoehorn something from each of the senses into the final product. If you don’t think taste adds anything, leave it out. If the house is silent, just say so, don’t scrabble around for extra detail or torturous metaphors. Try and keep it short, you want to transport your reader, not bore them! Once you’ve done that, edit the hell out of it!

Warren pushed open the door. Without electricity, the house remained eerily still, the only sound the rustling of his warm breath beneath his mask. The smells familiar to every homicide detective already told him what to expect, as his eyes adjusted to the unlit room. The bump beneath the sheets coalesced into a small, human-shaped form; what appeared to be a shadow in the centre of the duvet resolved into the source of the heavy, metallic odour.
The sweet, cloying stench that had alerted the neighbours as it drifted through the open window, told him that whatever horrors had occurred here had taken place days previously.

Remember the rules:

• Set yourself a time limit.
• Write without stopping, editing or overthinking.
• Write whatever comes to mind and don’t worry if it doesn’t make sense.
• It doesn’t matter if it has nothing to do with the scene that you are stuck on.

Do you have any suggestions for exercises to practise writing about the senses?
As always, feel free to comment here or on social media.
Happy writing,
Paul.

• First of all, ask yourself who they are.
• Do they already know each other – if so, what is their relationship?
• What is the conversation about?
• Perhaps there is no conversation – in which case are they thinking about the other person, or are they both in their own world?

One approach would be to imagine a conversation between them. The dialogue is the same in each version of the scene, but the emotions and feeling may be different. What about their inner monologue?
For example, imagine a man and woman sitting next to each other. Is one attracted to the other? Is the other person flattered by the attention or put off?
The aim of this exercise, in addition to hopefully breaking you out of your writer’s block, is to practise  empathising with different characters. To accessing their inner monologue and feelings, and to then try it from a different point of view.
Remember the rules:

• Set yourself a time limit.
• Write without stopping, editing or overthinking.
• Write whatever comes to mind and don’t worry if it doesn’t make sense.
• It doesn’t matter if it has nothing to do with the scene that you are stuck on.

Do you have any ideas for busting writer’s block? If so, share them below or on social media.

Until next time, happy writing.
Paul