Photo by Raindog

In the first creative writing class I took, my instructor talked about the one sense that writers consistently forget to use. It’s smell. When we deal in words on a page, in the shuffle of voice, dialogue, and plot it’s easy to forget to use smell.  But smell is so important. It can inspire you to write and help you to create memorable characters and stories. Here are 10 ways to use smell for writing inspiration, including three writing exercises.

1. Take a Smell Day

Spend a day devoted to smell. Notice everything around you. From soap, to laundry detergent, to the garbage that needs changing, to the skunk under the back deck. Notice any feelings or memories that are brought to the surface. Jot these story ideas down and the smells that inspired them.

2. Take Inspiration from Cooking Smells

Irish soda bread. Moroccan stew. Caramel corn. Choose a fragrant recipe that relates to the setting of your novel, or your characters. Pop it in the oven then sit and smell and write. The longer the dish takes to cook, the better. Let the smell of the dish work its way naturally into your story. It may be the seed of a scene or a new character.

3. Burn Scented Candles While You Write

Turn out the lights and write at your computer by candlelight. Try soy or beeswax candles with  natural scents because they burn cleaner than paraffin.

4. Spice Up Your Writing

Pick a spice that you don’t use very much. For me, that’s star anise. Grind some up in a mortar and pestle. Put it on your desk and smell it for a minute or two. Then write.

5. Write in Smelly Places

Write at the laundromat. Go to a café that roasts its own coffee. Writing in any strongly-scented place that isn’t your writing desk/nook/office will shake things up creatively.

6.  Spray Lavender Water Where You Write

Lavender water clears the air of bad smells and  is relaxing. Perfect for unleashing some writing. Spray it around your writing area. Don’t buy it though. It’s very cheap to make. Here are some lavender water recipes. Put it in a cheap spray bottle from the dollar store.

7. Burn Wood While Writing

There’s something deeply evocative about the smell of a campfire. After all storytelling around the fire is where writing got it’s start isn’t it? If you don’t have access to a good fire try burning some cedar incense (in moderation inside of course). Even the smell of a burnt wooden match can stir up ideas.

8. Exercise: Smell & Character

What do your characters smell like? Write everything down you can think of. What do these smells represent? Why does he or she smell that way? Write up a smell character profile for each.

9. Exercise: Smell & Memoir Writing

What’s your earliest childhood memory that involves smell? What smells remind you of your grandmother? Primary school? Summer vacation? Pick a strong smell-related memory and write a memoir piece.

10. Exercise: Smell & Plot

Give your main character a smell-related problem. It could be a body odour issue. It could be a burning cake. It could be finding a dead body in the garage. It could be losing the sense of smell. Now, write a scene.

If you find these suggestions and exercises helpful, or have some other ideas to add about working with the sense of smell, please leave a comment. Thank you!