Description; the 6th Sense–Part 4 the Sense of Touch

The next post in the series. (If you have missed the first 3 other parts, you can get to them here: Description; the 6th Sense–Part 1 the Sense of Sight; Part 2 the Sense of Sound; and Part 3 the Sense of Smell.)

Patience sat amidst the tall grass in the meadow. A lark whistled its shrill cry, as it swooped into the violently waving grass, before soaring back into the quickly darkening sky, with a cricket gripped tightly in its thin beak. The smell of on coming rain taunted Patience's nose, and she turned her eyes to the horizon, where a large black monster crept silently over her once peaceful surroundings. Lightning flashed inside it's belly, as it reared up it's angry head with a rumbling growl that shook the air and disarmed it of all silence.

Touch. . . . What a special thing it is. It's the feeling of the strong arms of someone they trust, which give's a little child the sense of security. It's the softness of a puppy's fur, or a chicks feathers that gives us the delight of holding or touching them. Touch– it is the feeling of warm earth squishing between our toes that we keep wanting to come back to; it is the kiss of a butterfly's wings, or the rush of wind upon our face. Touch. But how do we interpret that onto paper? How can we say what touch is, when you have to feel it in order to truly understand it. But not necessarily. . . . Like smell, you have a memory of things you've felt; the roundness of a ball that you have just thrown; the rough grains of the wood of the chair you have just sat in. That memory, can be harnessed and used to help your writing. Let's say that the character that you are writing about has picked up a piece of cloth. You can phrase what they feel in some way like this: "He ran his fingers over the material, it was like thin silk, smooth and soft, yet in other ways it was different. . . tougher for instance, it almost had a leathery feel to it." You see, first you get the feel of silk, then of leather, mix it together and vwalla! You have the feel of this new material.

But not all things are like that. Many you have to create your own texture for, such as darkness. You can't feel it in the literal sense. And yet, it wears on you, and seems to close in on you. Fog adds a chill to the air, and strains your eyes, so that it almost feels as if it were pressing into them. You can feel someone's stare, although they are touching you in no way. And the list goes on. Experiment, touch things, and see if you can word what it feels like and that way the next time you come to a part in your writing, where you need to describe touch, you will know what to do.

Patience sat amidst the tall grass in the meadow. A lark whistled its shrill cry, as it swooped into the violently waving grass, before soaring back into the quickly darkening sky, with a cricket gripped tightly in its thin beak. A gust of wind swept over Patience, gently caressing a lock of hair over her cheek. An especially long piece of grass tickled her ear before springing nimbly back into place as the wind slowed. The smell of on coming rain taunted her nose, and she turned her eyes to the horizon, where a large black monster crept silently over her once peaceful surroundings. Lightning flashed inside it's belly, as it reared up it's angry head with a rumbling growl that shook the air and disarmed it of all quiet.

(Thank you Hannah for your suggestion on the last sentence, I do believe it flows much better now. :) )

The 5th, and final part of the series will be coming soon. :)

Assr vísa ykkarr or∂.

~ElizabethMarieKauffman~