What Are Sensory Details: 5 Powerful Ways To Better Writing

What are sensory details as they pertain to writing your book, crafting your characters, and creating stories that stick with readers? If you’ve ever wondered how to incorporate sensory details into your writing, today is your day. 

Many writers’ success stories result from learning how to use the five senses to build enticing worlds that capture their readers. But what are sensory details, and how do you use them well? I cover all of this below.

What are sensory details: what’s covered 

• What is an example of a sensory detail?
• What are the 5 sensory details?
• How do writers use sensory details?
• What are the five sensory images in writing?

What is an example of a sensory detail?

An example of a sensory detail is when you write a phrase such as “the wind whistled” or “the smell of cookies permeated the air.” 

If you were to ask, what are sensory details, one of the first traits of these details you might notice are how they allow you to really lean into the show, don’t tell writing rule.

For example, consider the following two descriptions of the same circumstance. 

• “It was a hot day. She turned up the air conditioner in her car.” 
• “The air conditioner blasted above her music as she merged onto the highway. Ahead, a mirage floated on the pavement. She fanned herself with her shirt, the fabric damp under her fingers.”

The first example tells the reader the day is hot and the character has the AC on. The second example uses sensory details to show the reader the day is hot. You can see that using the senses even helped add a bit to the character development. 

What are the 5 sensory details?

The five senses are touch, sight, hearing, smell, and taste. But what are sensory details as they pertain to writing? After all, every creative outlet has command of different sensory details. 

When you go to a movie, you primarily see and hear what takes place on screen. Of course, if you go to a 3D showing, it will feel like more of an immersive experience (your chair may even shake, depending on the theater you frequent), but you miss the senses of touch, smell, and taste. 

Artists focus on the senses of sight (how the art looks) and texture (how it feels). Cooks focus on taste, smell, and presentation (sight). 

Writers use words to create visual images (sight), but what are sensory details writers often forget to use? Especially for new writers, it’s easy to forget to describe taste and smell. What are sensory details you primarily focus on? How can you employ each of them? That’s next! 

How do writers use sensory details?

Writers use sensory details to reveal character traits, emphasize plot structure, write dialogue that feels real, and a host of other details that all work in tandem to build a gripping story. 

If you write nonfiction, you may wonder what are sensory details’ role? Nonfiction uses these details in the same way. Today, nonfiction often needs to feel so unbelievable that readers think it has to be fiction, whereas readers want fiction to feel so believable it could be real.

What are sensory details, except the way to accomplish both of these goals? Let’s take a look at each one so you can see how you as a writer can use these types of details in your own writing. 

Touch

What are sensory details writers use more frequently? Touch is one sense that writers can implement with relative ease, if they make a conscious effort to do so.

Of course, each writer excels in different aspects throughout the development of their book, but touch is a sense many writers can use well. The first line of The Hunger Games uses a familiar feel for many of us (cold bed sheets) to immediately create a foreboding sense of dread. 

“When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold.” 

Why is the bed cold? Who is missing? Why? These questions are quickly answered, but this first sentence, and use of one sense, draws the reader in. 

Sight

What are sensory details writers use most? I would argue that sight and sound are the most frequent, as most writers describe what their world and characters look like, as well as what their world and characters sound like. 

However, used well, sight can establish setting in a very brief span of words, allowing writers to employ the other, lesser-used senses more quickly. Consider Percival Everett’s opening line of his groundbreaking novel, James.

“Those little bastards were hiding out there in the tall grass. The moon was not quite full, but bright, and it was behind them, so I could see them as plain as day, though it was deep night.”

In just one sentence, he orients the readers and sets them up for a spell-binding story that reveals different facets of James, the protagonist, and Huckleberry Finn.

Hearing

Hearing is another sense that can drastically change the tone of a story, or simply add realism to it. For example, consider Sir Arthur Conon Doyle’s use of sound (and sight) in his Sherlock Holmes story, The Five Orange Pips.

“Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there came a step in the passage, and a tapping at the door . . . The streaming umbrella . . . and his long shining waterproof told of the fierce weather through which had come.” 

“A tapping” creates a much different atmosphere than simply saying “someone knocked.” Writers often use sound to create intrigue and suspense: a creaking floorboard, a clap of thunder, or loud voices. 

For a more visceral example, read Kim Liggett’s novel, The Grace Year. Through one simple sound she repeatedly creates a suspenseful read that borders on horror. 

Smell

What are the sensory details writers often forget to use? Smell is one of them, and taste is the second (discussed last). Smell (and taste) add the frosting on the cake of well-rounded, immersive storytelling.  

Writers often create plots from action, otherwise known as activities that people observe (see). Consider The Lord of the Rings. The story is about Frodo taking the Ring to Mordor. To communicate the story, Tolkien wrote what happened (what Frodo saw/experienced). 

However, smell is easy to overlook, as almost any plot can find resolution without using this sense. That’s why writers who use this sense set themselves apart from others. 

Try the following:

• Don’t just say the wind blew: tell the reader how it carried the scent of pine across the meadow
• Don’t just show the reader they reached the café: describe the burnt smell of over-roasted beans or soft smell of warm scones 
• Don’t just say he cleaned the house: allude to the faint tinge of lemon cleaner hovering in the air as the first guests arrive 

What are sensory details you can use to elevate your scene? Any of them, for sure, but smell and taste are notable additions. 

Taste 

Speaking of taste, who doesn’t love a great bite of dessert or cringe as cough syrup hits their tongue? Taste adds a distinctive element to your storytelling (one your beta readers will love!).

We know what it feels like (touch) to walk outside on a cold day, but what does it taste like to catch a snowflake on your tongue? What about going to the beach? The sun feels hot on your head and the sand is smooth under your feet, but it also tastes gritty when wind blows it into your teeth. 

Have fun with this one! You may want to do a bit of “research” for your writing and taste all the desserts you may include in your story, for research purposes, of course. 

What are the five sensory images in writing?

The five senses, when used well, can convey images that simple description, devoid of most of these senses, simply can’t. What are sensory details, if not for immersing readers in the story world? Consider the beach example above.

Now try describing it using one sense, such as sight, to orient the reader and set the scene:

• “The beach looked like a white sheet spread across the sea. Breaking waves hit the shore. People dotted the sand, dressed in every color imaginable.” 

Now try describing the same scene but add the rest of the senses:

• “The beach looked like a white sheet spread across the sea, and the wind tossed it against her legs, stinging her. The smell of salt tinged the air. The grit of sand tasted foreign in her mouth. Waves crashed, claps of thunder on a summer day.” 

Of course, it may be a bit much to cram all five senses into just a few sentences, but for sake of example, hopefully you get the point. If you want to get your book noticed by your readership, use the senses to do so!

Remember, just like learning how to write dialogue takes practice, so does using sensory details. Creativity is a definite skill you can develop. It just takes perseverance!

What are sensory details: take your next step

Now that you know what sensory details are and the role they play in your writing, use our free Book Outline Generator to get a head start on your book. Once you receive your outline, get started writing.

I find it helpful to keep a list of the five senses nearby to make sure I don’t miss any. Happy writing!