Back in September, I published Emotional Beats: How to Easily Convert your Writing into Palpable Feelings. As promised, I will be posting the book on my blog. So, here is the next installment, featuring Part 2 of the book: Body Parts. As last week’s post was shorter than usual, I hope to compensate with today’s one, which deals with what you can hear:
Do You Hear What I Hear?
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Sound is a particularly evocative sense that can be used to bring any scene to life. For example, a single sentence like, “computers beeped, phones shrilled, and printers whirred” conveys all the bustle in a modern office.
- A shutter banged against the frame.
- A car door slammed.
- A dog howled in the distance.
- The motor stuttered and whined.
- The ceiling fan whirred.
- The rope clanked rhythmically against the flagpole.
- Computers beeped, phones shrilled, and printers whirred.
- Waves hissed against the shore.
- Waves thumped against the hull.
- Thunder rumbled.
- The wind whined.
- Rodent feet scurried.
- Water gurgled in the drainpipe.
- A dog barked in the distance.
On the farm, I heard…
- the whoosh of cars speeding by on the highway.
- the wind rustling through the leaves of trees.
- the crunch and crack of twigs and seeds fallen from the trees under foot.
- the sudden banging of a storm door.
- the screeching scrape of a tree branch on the metal of the barn.
- the clank on the chain on the gate.
- the hoot of a barn owl in some tree close by.
- the stomp of a horse’s hoof.
- the tinny thud of a metal feed door being nosed by a horse.
- the contented munch of a horse eating.
- the patter of feet across the metal roof of the barn [say by a squirrel or a rat].
- the whoosh of water into the bucket.
The wind carried the sounds of…
- the announcer’s voice for the junior high football game in a stadium close by.
- the roar of the crowd.
- the drumming of the band.
- a goat bleating next door.
- the rasping of metal on metal as a knife pulled clear of the block.
In the city, I heard…
- the whir of car tires on pavement.
- a short loud blast of a car horn.
- police sirens wailing at first near and then growing distant.
- car keys jangling in someone’s pocket.
- the drone of a jet passing low overhead.
- skipping shuffle of footsteps on sidewalk.
- a pedestrian coughing.
- the smack of skin against skin [someone being hit].
- the sudden yowl of a tom cat.
- laughter and fake screams from a throng of young people exiting a bar.
- the hiss of spray paint can in the hands of a graffiti artist.
- echoing footsteps in an alley.
- the rattle of trash can being knocked over, rolling.
- the clink of a piece of metal being kicked.
- a Harley rumbling to life.
Next week: Out of the mouth. View all posts on the subject, or buy the book on Amazon – free on KU!
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Thanks, Nicholas, for more helpful information. 🙂 — Suzanne
A pleasure! I’m glad you still find it useful 🙂
Will you be doing “What’s that stink?” next?
Ha ha – now, that’s a great idea 😀
These are great descriptive lines.
I hoped over to Amazon and grabbed my copy.
hopped
Yay!! Thank you 😀
You’re most welcome.
Yay! I’m glad you think so 🙂
A great reminder to use sound in our work, Nicholas. 🙂
You have some great examples in your books, too!
Thanks, Nicholas. It’s not hard to add sensory details, as long as I remember!
Maybe if you’re as talented as you, it ain’t!
🙂
“As the wind rustled the remaining leaves on the beech hedge at the front of the house in Beetley, the blogger stretched, causing his office chair to creak as the backrest moved. His shoulders cracked loudly as he stretched. Time to move away from the keyboard and prepare dinner, he thought to himself.”
Nice work, Nicholas.
Best wishes, Pete.
I’d read that! 😀
Just as I sat there this afternoon. Nothing more creative than that, I’m afraid.
Hi Nicholas. Great post thanks. I saw the link to the book at the bottom and snapped it up on KU 🙂 I take it the book contains all the good stuff from every related post you’ve written and plan to release on your site? Might sound like a stupid question but just wanted to check, as it says ‘Book 1’…
Thank you so much, Adrian! Yes, everything from my posts, plus a bonus section. The “book 1” thing refers to the 2nd book I’m writing, that’s about marketing.
Great list. Sound definitely needs to come into play a lot to create the ‘big picture’. Honestly, I’ve always tried to hit at least sight, sound, and smell when describing a setting. Really helps with immersion. Think you’d ever do a post about taste? That’s always the tough one.
An excerpt from ‘The Hypochondriac’
“He could taste nutmeg in his mouth, and was sure that pervading smell must be cinnamon. But he had eaten nothing containing either spice. My God, it must be a brain tumour, he thought to himself.”
Best wishes, Pete. 🙂
Will I find the rest on your blog? 😀
Not yet. It was just a teaser!
Thanks. I’ve actually heard a friend say something like that. They smelled oregano in a Chinese restaurant and wouldn’t let it go.
That’s because, unlike my daughter, most of us don’t go around sticking things into our mouths! 😀
Then you truly haven’t lived the college life. 😛 Seriously though, you do get tastes when you breathe something in. At least I do. There’s always this taste component that I become vaguely aware of behind the other senses.