“Of the five primary senses, sight is the only one humans possess that is considered above average by the standards of the animal kingdom,” says instructor Kristina Ten. “Maybe that’s why writers tend to reach for sight first, and rely on it most heavily in our narratives.
“But how might a familiar setting become stranger or more charged when entered through sound, touch, taste, or bodily sensation? How might a smell unlock a character’s curious private history? What do our habitual choices around sense descriptions reveal about our own styles as writers, and how might expanding on these open up unexpected material?”
In this 3-week class, we’ll move through a mix of craft lessons, short readings, discussions, and writing exercises to explore how sensory detail—far more than just decorative—can make for original, perfectly peculiar stories that spark readers’ imaginations and stick in their minds. We’ll learn how to draw from all five senses to create immersive, lived-in environments populated by characters with depth and texture. We’ll read authors such as Grace Paley, K-Ming Chang, and Terry Pratchett to accompany our explorations.
By the end of class, you’ll come away with up to three newly written scenes in which sensory detail has been used to deepen character, complicate setting, and/or build atmosphere and tension. You’ll also have the tools to continue to “weird up” your writing with surprising, highly particular sensory details, giving your stories that extra edge.
About The Writing Salon's In-Person Classes
Before your class meets, you'll receive an email from The Writing Salon with more information about your class. If you have any questions about in-person learning, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at hello@writingsalons.com.
Kristina Ten is the author of Tell Me Yours, I’ll Tell You Mine (2025, Stillhouse Press). Her stories appear in The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy, We’re Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction, The Best Weird Fiction of the Year, and elsewhere. She has won the McSweeney’s Stephen Dixon Award for Short Fiction, and has been a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award, the Locus Award, and the Conjunctions Residency. Ten is a graduate of Clarion West Writers Workshop and the University of Colorado Boulder’s MFA program in fiction, and has received fellowships from the Ragdale Foundation and the Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing.
- Tuesday, October 13, 6:30pm-9:00pm
- Tuesday, October 20, 6:30pm-9:00pm
- Tuesday, October 27, 6:30pm-9:00pm