How does sound, smell and color effect your characters?

As a fiction writer is so important to capture the essence of your characters to make them relatable to your readers. One way to do that is adding sound, smell and color to your scenes.

Colors

Using colors to set a mood or bring up backstory takes the character to a deeper point of view.The color red for example can bring on a variety of reaction depending on your character’s backstory. Historically brothels were decorated in a deep red. A red light might be displayed outside of a house of prostitution. (Redlight district) A woman delivered from such a place would avoid the color.

 While red roses represent love to courting couples.

Crime novels will be covered in red blood using a variety of shades: crimson, brown, bright red. Red might remind a victim of their trauma. A blue ocean might bring on the fear of drowning or the hope of escape.

Sounds and Smells

If your character had a past trauma then sounds, smells can bring back those memories. My character Jed Holt from Rescuing Her Heart suffered in a POW camp during the Civil War. Thunderstorms set off a terrible memory and this big tough guy curls up ina fetal position on the ground or is frozen in place.

 His brother Lonnie, the main character in my novella Healing Hearts in The Cowboys was badly burned and fire is something he battles. Lighting a fire or gazing at the flames in a fireplace can bring pain and fear to the forefront.

The widow Delilah James, from Rescuing Her Heart was in an abusive relationship and a wink sends her fleeing. It reminds her of her late husband. He would wink if she did something around others that offended him ,then he would beat her later.

I recently read a soon to be released novel Emerald Fields by Pegg Thomas where the main character Russ, a civil war veteran, has severe PTSD, or Soldier’s Heart as it was referred to back then. The sound of a breaking plate sent him back to the battlefield. The smell of ammonia and camphor in a hospital reminded him of the pain and fear when his injured face was tended. And I really loved the author adding the motion of the train bringing on the fears he had while riding in a cattle car with his fellow soldiers.

The smell of coffee and bacon in the morning usually denotes a positive beginning to a day. The smell of burning leaves might remind a character of a pleasant childhood or the fear of a forest fire. A particular song might offer peace or put one in a romantic mood. The damp weather in Seattle might remind a Scotsman of home.

And the rough tongue of a puppy might cause a character to forget his troubles for the moment. The cat’s gentle purr as he wraps himself around her leg brings comfort. Or your character might find sticky dog slobber revolting and cats bring on a sneezing fit. The characters’ reaction to these animals gives the reader a peek into who they are.

A child’s tiny hand in a man’s large calloused one evokes sweet feelings of protection. While the growl of an angry father and the sting of his slap give the hand a different connection between parent and child.

Did you catch the sensory words I used: calloused, growl, sting. Use these kinds of sensory words to deepen your scenes and draw the reader in.

If you can get a reader to lose sleep reading your novel because you’ve captured them through sensory details, then you have a fan who will sing your praises to all his reader friends.

Do you have a favorite book full of sensory words?