June 1, 2026
Which of the senses is the hardest for you to include in your writing?
As a writer, we’re told all the time to include all the senses in our writing.
That can be a hard job. It’s part of the adage “Show, not tell.” I can describe a snowy day -cold, windy, dark clouds, maybe even the smell of a storm moving is – but taste?
That’s my downfall. I’ll easily tell you about the Chinese food my characters are eating, but to describe the flavor of those dishes eludes me. How many words are there? Sweet, salty, spicy, chocolatey? I suspect that I am flavor-blind in a way. In real life, other people can taste basic flavors in food long before I can. Even something as simple as potato chips don’t appeal to me because I find them bland. Something has to be really salty before I can taste the salt. I once cooked a batch of biscuits with half the salt the recipe called for. I couldn’t tell the difference, but my mother-in-law could.
So taste is the hardest sense for me to write. How do you describe what a chocolate cake tastes like? What’s the difference between a strawberry and a blueberry? If you haven’t experienced a food or a spice, how do you describe it or understand the description someone else has shared?
But I guess that’s true for any of the senses. How do you describe a blue sky to someone who has lived in darkness? Or the difference between the smell of burnt feathers and daisies?
That’s our job as writers. It’s not always easy. Truthfully, it’s rarely easy.
What do the other authors on this hop have trouble writing? Find out by following the links below.
As always, please stay safe until the next time.
Goal update: I’ve broken 60,000 words. Unless the universe interferes, I should finish in a day or two!
June 1, 2026
Which of the senses is the hardest for you to include in your writing?
Ever since I had surgery on my sinus, I’ve lost the ability to smell and taste anything but the strongest foods and aromas. Unfortunately, I seem to have transferred this deficiency to my writing.
Hence why I haven’t had surgery to repair my sinusitis. I use saline wash and antibiotics when I develop an infection, but mostly I’ve just learned to deal with it. Because I’m aware of this deficit, I try to incorporate scent into a few scenes. It’s a hard one to remember because, generally, when I think of somewhere I’ve been, I don’t really remember the smells. The Ft. Worth stock yards, for me, were curious while my husband struggled not to puke.
I grew up between two farmers that included cows. I got used to that smell
And it gets worse the older I get
Yes, those nuances are hard to describe. I was blessed about flavors because my dad was a professional chef who used us as his test kitchen. “Tell me what it needs more of…less of…different…etc.” My tastebuds were well-trained by his forays into exotic spices. But nobody ever really noticed that my sense of smell sucked until I was an adult. I’m don’t remember smelling lots of things growing up. So, nose-blind is a good way to put it. But I do still try to incorporate some scents into my writing because it’s part of most people’s everyday lives.
My sense of smell was well-developed. Don’t know what happened to my sense of taste
Read Anthony Bourdain’s book parts unknown. He’s a chef with a gifted writing ability and will give you so many ways to write about food. He’s my fav!
Sorry! It’s No reservations. I gave you the show, which is also amazing!
I caught his show a few times. It was a great entertainer but I never got fully immersed in his descriptions.