Sensory details help the reader feel as though they are experiencing everything alongside the character, and it will create a much more intimate connection to the scene. The senses can also help to set the mood and ping the theme, while establishing a strong “narrative voice.”

If you’re going to describe how something tastes, sounds and looks, then you can leave out how it feels and smells. You never want to assault your reader’s senses.

Each time you state that a character enters a new scene describe their surroundings and use the sense of sight to indicate the colors, shapes, and images that they see.

avoid overusing the words: sounds or sound. Alternatives could be: noise, hum, echo, thud, reverberation, crash, jingle, clatter, or vibration, any of which are more specific for the reader.

While writing a descriptive setting, consider the memories that music can produce, or the sound of a lover’s voice, or the jangle of the ice cream truck when you were a child.

Through the characters “eyes,” it becomes a room with dark wood paneling, oval windows, and a tarnished hardwood floor.

Descriptive writing is just depicting everything that your character is feeling, observing, and identifying, along with whatever they’re seeing, hearing, touching, and/or smelling.

Common filter words are heard / hear / could hear that can create narrative distance.

A scene that includes the sense of hearing and sounds is much more likely to induce an emotional reaction in the reader.