Scents and Sensibility: Elevate Your Writing with the Power of Scent

Our cerebral hemispheres were originally buds from the olfactory stalks. We think because we smelled.

—Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of the Senses

Whether we realize it or not, we are constantly immersed in scent. Yet writers often struggle to capture the sense of smell on the page, relying on vague descriptions like “fresh” or “sweet,” or avoiding it altogether. But scent is a powerful literary tool—it can bend time, unlock memories, and transport readers to new realities. Think of the way a familiar smell can stop you in your tracks: the sharp zest of freshly grated lemon, the green leafiness of summer tomatoes, the acrid sweetness of autumn woodsmoke. While visual descriptions paint a scene, olfactory details evoke an immediate, instinctive response, connecting directly to the emotional, pre-cognitive part of the brain. Scent can create a visceral bond between readers and characters, and even help to suspend disbelief.

In this workshop, we’ll explore how to craft vivid olfactory experiences in writing. How do we build a rich vocabulary for describing scent? How can we use it to deepen our storytelling? We’ll begin with the natural world—the elusive scent of rain (petrichor), the earthy loam of a forest floor, the bracing sharpness of mountain air, the almondy softness of kitten fur, the hay-and-cumin warmth of a horse, the smoky tang of saddle leather. We’ll also study how writers from Marcel Proust to Keith Richards harness the power of scent to create unforgettable sensory experiences.

Who This Course is For

This workshop is for writers of all levels and genres—poets, fiction and nonfiction writers—who want to deepen their sensory descriptions and harness the evocative power of scent in their work. Whether you’re looking to create more immersive settings, develop vivid character experiences, or simply expand your descriptive toolkit, this course will help you bring your writing to life.

Zoom Schedule

We will meet over Zoom on Sunday, March 30th, from 7-10 PM Eastern. 

Learning and Writing Goals

Learning Goals

• Cultivate your sense of smell, heightening everyday experiences.
• Explore the beauty of scent and fragrance, from the mundane to the sublime.
• Learn the practice of paying attention to smell in the natural (and unnatural) world.
• Learn about a raw material or element, learn its name, then recognize it in the wild.
• Build a scent vocabulary.

Writing Goals

• Use your new scent vocabulary to edit ordinary sentences.
• Complete three writing exercises in your genre to infuse your writing with vivid olfactory descriptions.

Workshop Breakdown

• Introduction, with literary examples
• Fragrant Fiction–a whole novel written in fragrance
• The Scented Sentence
• Build your scent vocabulary
• Writing exercises—rewrite and infuse
• Sharing our work
• Questions
• Suggested reading