Little Traces
A Chapbook
5-Senses Walk
"Show; don't tell." Of course, we have to do both in a short story, but the point is that the description works to create the reality of the story, the world of the story; it sets the mood and the tone of the story and is the container for the action and dialogue.
This exercise is one way to practice at close observation and then gather those observations and use them in your creative writing.
5-Senses Walk Instructions
Unplug from your electronic devices.
Don’t say no; say yes. Turn them off; ignore them or leave it at home. Put a snack or mint or gum in your pocket, and take some water if you need it for your walk.
Take a notebook and pen and go somewhere to which you can safely take a 10-minute solo walk anywhere outside, collecting in your notebook as many sense impressions as you can notice for each of 5 senses. (The snack or mint or gum is for “taste,” unless you’re one of those people who walk around eating wild things, like my fellow). Just jot your impressions down in a list form, so that you collect as many as possible; the more details you have, the more you have to draw from in the next part.
On your return
Using the sense impressions you collected from your walk, write a descriptive passage from the point of view of any character, perhaps one who is in a particular mood. You can choose to write from the first, second, or third-person point of view, but stay close to the character you choose. (It’s entirely up to you if you want to use a character from your current story-in-progress and see what happens.)