Show and Tell through the 5 Senses
Do you remember when you were younger and you had a show and tell day at school; a day when you were asked to bring an object in that was of particular importance to you and share it with your class? Sharing involved showing them the object, and often passing it around so that everyone could get up close and personal, while you talked about what it was, and what it meant to you.
At school, the ideas of show and tell were combined in a simple exercise. The show part allowed us to relate more fully to the object. We could feast our eyes on it, pick it up, turn it over in our hands, and feel its weight, shape, and texture. Depending on what was being shared, it might have given off sounds, or scents, or perhaps we were able to taste it. Gaining an experiential view of the object, we could relate more fully to what our classmates told us about it. We didn't just hear about how it made them feel, we got to experience those thoughts, feelings, and emotions for ourselves.
Let's stop for just a moment and imagine that someone had brought in a rose for show and tell. As it was gently passed around, everyone would have been able to smell the intoxicating bouquet from its sweet petals. They would have felt the juxtapositional sensations of its woody stem, coarse leaves, sharp thorns, and soft smooth petals. They would have been able to admire the beauty of the flower blooming in all its glory. They may have sampled a taste of its petals if they were adventurous! In short, they got to understand and relate to the thoughts and feelings of the speaker, about the rose, through the lens of first-hand personal experience. The show part of the presentation supported and complemented the tell, allowing the audience to be more fully immersed.
As writers, we sometimes forget that even though we only have our words to share with our readers, we can still give them the show experience if we use our words well to immerse the reader into our own experience of the scene we are writing about. Words are powerful and we have such rich and descriptive language available to us. We can show how much we love and appreciate the beauty of roses without actually uttering the words: love or beauty. Through sensory-based descriptions, we can relay the feelings and emotions of our characters by sharing how our characters perceive and understand the world around them, and how they respond to the sensory inputs they experience. Whether it be an object, character, action, or experience we are describing, we have so much artistry at our disposal.
The human body receives sensory information through 5 primary senses; namely:
- touch - including skin sensations
- sight
- hearing
- smell/scent
- taste
If we want to immerse our readers, we don't want to tell them everything and leave nothing to the imagination. Rather, we want them to experience the scene for themselves and draw their own conclusions. When it comes to wanting to connect them with how our characters are feeling and to evoke specific responses from our readers such as empathy or sadness, frustration or anger, we need to place ourselves inside our characters, walk their walk, talk their talk, and see the world through the lens of their perspective. We need to describe how every sight, sound, smell, taste, or touch impacts them. Share what effect those sensory interactions have on their body, mind, heart, and soul, and how that may dictate or guide their character's responses, through their decisions and actions. You need to make the reader feel as though they are right there in the scene, seeing, feeling, hearing, touching, tasting, and experiencing your character's world alongside them.
You can find a great little article by @jayna written for @theinkwell that will help you understand how to use show in your writing to create more impactful stories. Top tip: After reading and assimilating the short article, read the comments too!
Magical Realism
Magical realism is Reedsy's writing genre of the week and I thought it would be a great one to tackle this month for dreem-wotw. Shaelin Bishop, from Reedsy.com explains magical realism in a way that makes it understandable to most. She says:
"Fabulism, also known as magical realism, is the inclusion of magical elements in an otherwise realistic story. The catch — and what makes it differ from fantasy — is that here, the magical elements are never explained. They don’t need to be logical, but are instead symbolic: a way to explore themes or emotions by bending (or breaking) the rules of reality. The result is uncanny, strange, dream-like, but also human and tender.
Fabulism asks you to be wildly imaginative, creative, and to dig into emotions and themes that are so profound or bizarre that they can only be expressed through a little bit of magic. The need to be logical is removed, and you can let your imagination run wild. Let this be your chance to write something strange, experimental, or unexpected. Think about possibility, rather than limits. Shaelin Bishop
You may come up with any story of your choosing provided it showcases both Magical Realism AND Show don't tell. If you need some inspiration, here are a few prompt ideas for Magical Realism from the Reedsy site that you could use: Write a story where a regular household item becomes sentient. Start your story with it raining... anything but rain (eg: flowers, cutlery, seashells, running shoes). Write a story where the laws of time and space begin to dissolve. Write a story where your character is traveling a road that has no end. Write a story about an artist whose work has magical properties. (Note: If you would also like to enter your finished piece into Reedsy's contest, see note at the bottom of this post) We would like you to write a short story of at least 750 words in the genre of magical realism but ensure that you add at least one scene where you focus on immersing the reader into your character's world using the five senses and what you have learned from the article that I have shared. In addition, you can use body language to convey hidden emotions to strengthen the impact of your piece. Remember, you want to try to convey what you want to say without saying it directly.
Shaelin Bishop
Now... with all the above in mind, on to this month's prompt!
IT IS THE ONLY DATE AND TIMEFRAME WITHIN WHICH SUBMISSIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED FOR THE S3 R5 CONTEST IN DREEMPORT.
The curation/submission cycle starts and ends at these times so there is unfortunately little room for flexibility. All valid submissions to Dreemport will be reviewed and ranked by public curators the following day.
Part of the grading process includes an allocation of points for engagement... but engagement is only assessed if you do Dreemport curation of the contest posts in Dreemport on the day following the contest submission date. Simply log in to Dreemport on Monday 4th March, curate (ie: read and engage😜), and rank the 5 random contest posts assigned to you.
The top 5 in Dreemport will automatically be shortlisted for grading for dreem-wotw prizes, alongside other entries of merit put forward by members of the grading team. We will also be able to access the top 5 Dreemport staff entries in the background and will run two contest pools to keep staff and public entries separate 😊
The dreem-wotw team will then use a Merit grading system that incorporates some aspects of the ORIGINAL Merit Grading Model developed by @scholaris and others added by @juliamulcahy in order to determine the winners.If there are fewer than 5 entries in the staff contest pool, the dreem-wotw grading team reserves the right to award prizes only to those staff entries that are clearly amongst the top-scoring entries, considering all entries in both pools.
If anyone has any difficulty registering and trying out the platform, please tag me or @wrestlingdesires here on this post and we will help you to get this little piece of admin out of the way as painlessly as possible 😊
If you have not used Dreemport before, you will need to register on dreemport.com, which is a quick and easy process.
You may want to start by taking a look at these videos by @dreemsteem ...
This month we are thankful to the following sponsors:
@dreemsteem and @dreemport for Dreem tokens
@melinda010100 and @ecency for Ecency point sponsorship
@dibblers.dabs and @jfuji and The Scholar and Scribe creative writing community for Scholar and Scribe tokens.
@amberkashif for Ecency point sponsorship
This month Dreem-Wotw sponsors Dreemport Featured posts, Hive, and HBI, and adds to the Ecency point prizes.
Scholar and Scribe Sponsorship
Feel free to post your entry in the Scholar and Scribe community. All entries (no matter where you post them) can use the #scholarandscribe tag if you wish—this will help you earn both SCHOLAR and SCRIBE tokens.
Learn more about S&S here and consider joining the community if you haven’t already.
Official Prizes will be as follows:
Public:
1st: 500 Dreem Tokens, 1 Dreemport Featured Post, 5 Hive, 350 Ecency points, 100 Scholar, 2 Scribe
2nd: 300 Dreem tokens, 2 HBI, 200 Ecency points, 50 Scholar
3rd: 150 Dreem Tokens, 1 HBI, 150 Ecency points, 50 Scholar
4th: 150 Ecency points
5th: 150 Ecency points
Dreemport Staff:
1st : 300 Dreem tokens, 5 Hive, 350 Ecency points, 100 Scholar, 2 Scribe
2nd: 150 Ecency points
3rd: 150 Ecency points
Miscellaneous prizes:
For using the Ecency front end:
Each entry made using the Ecency front end will receive 25 Ecency points sponsored by Dreem-WOTW.
Promotion draw:
Anyone who tags at least 2 new people (not already tagged in the post) who they think would like to take part in the contest, will be entered into a random draw where 1 person will win 250 Ecency points. So get tagging people who you think would be genuinely interested in taking part, and lend them a little encouragement to write and submit their posts.
Good luck folks and I hope to see lots of people taking part this month🤗
All new entrants each month will be added to the list.
Please let me know if you would prefer not to be tagged and you will be removed from the list, and if you are reading this and would like to be tagged going forward, please comment below and I will add you💗.
@abdul-qudus @acgalarza @adoore-eu @ahmadmanga @alonicus @alekst7 @amberkashif @amiegeoffrey @amirtheawesome1 @anonymous02 @aroojkhalid @atyourservice @aussieninja @ayesha-malik @balikis95 @bananzell @beeber @beeeee @belleflower @blackdaisyft @bluefinstudios @bnbsc @bobthebuilder2 @b0s @buezor @bipolar95 @cescajove @chincoculbert @cool08 @coquicoin @corporateay @creatr @curiouscatho @daje10 @dansabest9 @darthsauron @deeanndmathews @deraaa @dibblers.dabs @diebitch @d-pend @dreemsteem @dwixer @edystringz @emreal @elentiyaroberts @erh.germany @esther-emmanuel @eunice9200, @flamistan @fragozar01 @freedomprepper @funshee @george-dee @giftedwriter @grindan @grocko @glorydee @hannes-stoffel @harryjoe5432 @hazmat @hollowins @hive-elite @hopestylist @holler @idksamad78699 @idlemind @ifarmgirl @ijohnsen @intishar @iskawrites @itsostylish @ibbtammy @iwannabeme @jane1289 @jaxsonmurph @jazclassic @jfuji @jhymi @jjmusa2004 @joseph23 @juliamulcahy @julti1985 @kamarah @kei2 @kemmyb @kenechukwu97 @khaleesii @killerwot @kilvnrex @ksam @lizizoo @kingsleyy @leeart @lightpen @les90 @litguru @lordtimoty @luchyl @ma3str0 @madeirane @marbrym @maryjacy @mcyusuf @memeisfun @merit.ahama @moclassic @mineopoly @mmykel @morenow @mrenglish @mypathtofire @ministerwallay @meyateingi @nancybriti1 @nevies @ngwinndave @nkemakonam89 @nonsowrites @nwothini335 @ngwinndave @oblivioncubed @oceanbee @officialrosh1 @olawalium @olujay @palomap3 @penderis @phyna @pinkchic @princessbusayo @quduus1 @queenstarr @rare-gem @repayme4568 @restcity @riverflows @rukkie @sam9999 @samiwrites @seki1 @shadowspub @simgirl @smc.arike.oba @snook @stevehodl @stevemuis @strangegravy @strega.azure @stuartcturnbull @sunbeam3 @taimen @talon12 @tydynrain @tengolotodo @teknon @timmy-turnip @treasuree @unklebonehead @veganuss.family @vikbuddy @whitneyalexx @winanda @wongi @wrestlingdesires @zitalove @zyzymena @zeegirl
@menace123 @hadrianwild I was wondering if either of you would like to write for the contest this month?
The Reedsy Contest
If you would also like to enter your finished piece into Reedsy's contest, you will need to follow the link here. They charge $5 per entry but offer a top prize of $250. You would need to write for one of the five prompts shared, submit your story first to the Reedsy site, and thereafter publish it on Hive and share it in Dreemport. Reedsy has some excellent prompt ideas each week. You can also create a free account on Reedsy where you can publish stories written for their prompts, without paying the $5, and therefore not entering your story in their weekly contests)
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Dreemport banner used with permission of @dreemsteem and @dreemport and designed by @jimramones
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Ecency floral logo designed by thekittygirl. No credit required.
Writer 'nd a Half banner created by @penderis and used with permission, simply because it brings me joy.
Learn more about S&S here and consider joining the community if you haven’t already.
Official Prizes will be as follows:
Public:
1st: 500 Dreem Tokens, 1 Dreemport Featured Post, 5 Hive, 350 Ecency points, 100 Scholar, 2 Scribe
2nd: 300 Dreem tokens, 2 HBI, 200 Ecency points, 50 Scholar
3rd: 150 Dreem Tokens, 1 HBI, 150 Ecency points, 50 Scholar
4th: 150 Ecency points
5th: 150 Ecency points
Dreemport Staff:
1st : 300 Dreem tokens, 5 Hive, 350 Ecency points, 100 Scholar, 2 Scribe
2nd: 150 Ecency points
3rd: 150 Ecency points
Miscellaneous prizes:
For using the Ecency front end:
Each entry made using the Ecency front end will receive 25 Ecency points sponsored by Dreem-WOTW.
Promotion draw:
Anyone who tags at least 2 new people (not already tagged in the post) who they think would like to take part in the contest, will be entered into a random draw where 1 person will win 250 Ecency points. So get tagging people who you think would be genuinely interested in taking part, and lend them a little encouragement to write and submit their posts.
Good luck folks and I hope to see lots of people taking part this month🤗
If you would also like to enter your finished piece into Reedsy's contest, you will need to follow the link here. They charge $5 per entry but offer a top prize of $250. You would need to write for one of the five prompts shared, submit your story first to the Reedsy site, and thereafter publish it on Hive and share it in Dreemport. Reedsy has some excellent prompt ideas each week. You can also create a free account on Reedsy where you can publish stories written for their prompts, without paying the $5, and therefore not entering your story in their weekly contests)
A reminder that entries for dreem-wotw are due in Dreemport Friday 1st March :-)
It's a fun prompt - don't overthink it if the genre is new to you. Just have a go and see where your imagination takes you. I can't wait to read all of your stories 💗
@abdul-qudus @acgalarza @adoore-eu @ahmadmanga @alonicus @alekst7 @amberkashif @amiegeoffrey @amirtheawesome1 @anonymous02 @aroojkhalid @atyourservice @aussieninja @ayesha-malik @balikis95 @bananzell @beeber @beeeee @belleflower @blackdaisyft @bluefinstudios @bnbsc @bobthebuilder2 @b0s @buezor @bipolar95 @cescajove @chincoculbert @cool08 @coquicoin @corporateay @creatr @curiouscatho @daje10 @dansabest9 @darthsauron @deeanndmathews @deraaa @dibblers.dabs @diebitch @d-pend @dreemsteem @dwixer @edystringz @emreal @elentiyaroberts @erh.germany @esther-emmanuel @eunice9200, @flamistan @fragozar01 @freedomprepper @funshee @george-dee @giftedwriter @grindan @grocko @glorydee @hannes-stoffel @harryjoe5432 @hazmat @hollowins @hive-elite @hopestylist @holler @idksamad78699 @idlemind @ifarmgirl @ijohnsen @intishar @iskawrites @itsostylish @ibbtammy @iwannabeme @jane1289 @jaxsonmurph @jazclassic @jfuji @jhymi @jjmusa2004 @joseph23 @juliamulcahy @julti1985 @kamarah @kei2 @kemmyb @kenechukwu97 @khaleesii @killerwot @kilvnrex @ksam @lizizoo @kingsleyy @leeart @lightpen @les90 @litguru @lordtimoty @luchyl @ma3str0 @madeirane @marbrym @maryjacy @mcyusuf @memeisfun @merit.ahama @moclassic @mineopoly @mmykel @morenow @mrenglish @mypathtofire @ministerwallay @meyateingi @nancybriti1 @nevies @ngwinndave @nkemakonam89 @nonsowrites @nwothini335 @ngwinndave @oblivioncubed @oceanbee @officialrosh1 @olawalium @olujay @palomap3 @penderis @phyna @pinkchic @princessbusayo @quduus1 @queenstarr @rare-gem @repayme4568 @restcity @riverflows @rukkie @sam9999 @samiwrites @seki1 @shadowspub @simgirl @smc.arike.oba @snook @stevehodl @stevemuis @strangegravy @strega.azure @stuartcturnbull @sunbeam3 @taimen @talon12 @tydynrain @tengolotodo @teknon @timmy-turnip @treasuree @unklebonehead @veganuss.family @vikbuddy @whitneyalexx @winanda @wongi @wrestlingdesires @zitalove @zyzymena @zeegirl @jhymie
Thanks for the reminder
I got you writing last month??
well you got me hooked with this one girlie!!! hehehe
love love LOVE this theme!!!!!!!!
@bluefinstudios ... you should write for this! hehehe
You can write for the prompt anytime and I am sure you will have fun with Midjourney and Magical Realism 💗 !LUV
Hi @samsmith1971,
Thank you for participating in the #teamuk curated tag. We have upvoted your quality content.
For more information visit our discord https://discord.gg/8CVx2Am
This is quite interesting and inspiring🤗. The concept of show and tell writing should be very helpful to writers.
I have been told many times to incorporate it into my own writing, but they didn't explained it as clearly as you have.
As for Magical Realism, it is entirely new to me, but it sounds very interesting too.
This sounds like a fun exercise :) What a great prompt ♥️
@rak7 I invite you to join in, I just discovered your writing and am enjoying it a lot :)
This post has been manually curated by the VYB curation project
When I think magical realism the names that pop up in my mind are giants, like Salman Rushdie, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, etc. It will be quite interesting to see if I can try my hand in their playground :)
Do give it a bash, Brij, even if not in time for the prompt! I find it liberating as a writer to tackle new writing challenges and grow from the experience.
I will Sam. I did not try to rush it yesterday but it is not a seed in my mind. The reality is that fiction itself frightens me a bit. I read all the wonderful work here and get even more frightened. So it is a fear I need to handle soon :D Maybe March is the month :)
hehe I understand. Maybe start with the freewriter community and their 5 minute prompts?
Maybe. Though it might be more fundamental than that ... Just here in last two to three weeks I have heard of at least 3 people say they have a story in their head. And when I try to think my head is full of others stories :D
I think i need to invert the consumption : creation balance in me :D
With the prompts I might be able to cheat out a para or two but a story, even a short story, not so sure.
I wish CWH was in my mornings, and not in middle of my work evening :D Maybe journaling in that environment would help :)
Still, will work on it. Let's see how it goes. Also feel like revisiting Marquez :)
You know, I have never read Rushdie or Marquez, perhaps I am missing a trick and a treat here :-) Any personal recommendations?
Salman Rushdie, many people I respect really love his works. I have yet to read him. Am a bit intimidated. Gabriel Marquez was one of my true ‘fiction ‘ books as I generally read pulp and fantasy. I was pleasantly surprised how much I liked it though I am sure I did not understand it fully. Planning to reread him soon.
"Show, don't tell," kept ringing in my head, a vivid example was given in those post, the way you explained the feeling attached to smelling a rose made me felt like I was the one doing it and that's magical heheh.
This months contest is going to definitely expand our creative mindset. Thanks for the tag, let's get our pens moving🥰
This is amazing 👏. A beautiful read. Fabulism??? Cute. Hehe.
@loveth97, @jjmusa2004, @kingsleyy and @marriot5464 check this out.
#dreemerforlife.
Thaaaaaank you!
You're blessed
Interesting prompt we've got this month.
@abenad @beckyroyal have you seen this prompt?
@chinyere663, you may want to join this contest.
This is an interesting prompt and I love every inspiration that it gives.
#dreemerforlife
This is really interesting and brings so much memories
My brain is already all over the place and I can’t wait to read other’s entries too
#dreemerforlife
Congratulations 🥳🥳
@abenad you are the lucky winner of 100 Dreem Tokens for participating in Dreemport’s Bounty.
Thank you
These topics sound so lovely but the only setback I have is the show don't tell. I have always found it so difficult to take this part.
Whichever way, I will try to prepare one before time.
@samsmith1971 , Do we need to post it in this community or whichever one we like?
You may post your story in any community that you like but you will have to share it in Dreemport on Friday to qualify for entry into the contest.
Alright. Thanks for your response...
This is so interesting, I can't wait to join my buddies to enjoy the next prompt. #dreemerforlife
This is so nice,
The sense organ talk too me back to biology days 😅.
It's been a while I joined last on Dreem-WoTW.
I'm surely giving this a shot
#dreemerforlife
Oh. Magic!! I have a question. Those topic suggestions are purely for inspiration yeah? Which means we can come up with our own plot and so on?
hey D :-) yes, you can come up with your own story for magical realism. The prompts were just ideas I borrowed from Reedsy to help anyone who was stuck. Feel free to do your own thing! Because I shared their description and prompts, I also shared their contest link for anyone interested. !LUV !ALIVE
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Thank you Sam.
Words are really powerful and could be used for many purposes. I guess I have an entry to make for this post.
#dreemerforlife
Friday this time!
Oh this one is interesting, I saw a restaurant doing food with the five senses once.
#dreemerforlife
How did they do that, Ed? Focus each dish on one of the senses or just one dish on all of the senses or was the whole visit an entire sensory experience? Sounds intriguing.
I also used to participate in Reedsy weekly prompt/ contest. And I would say that their tips, especially from Shaelin, have helped me improve the way I write stories.
@samsmith1971 thank you for tagging me. I'll try to participate. 😊
#dreemerforlife
Yes! They are pretty fabulous, aren't they. Would love to see you join dreem-wotw, @idlemind 💗
I've never really participated in any dreemport contest but this actually looks very very interesting and tasking. I'll definitely take part in this
we welcome you! heheheh
this is a great one to take part in!!! what a nice introduction for you into DreemPort!!! :)
Nice one, I hope I jump on this one.
#dreemerforlife
This is nice and very intriguing, I would like to be tagged going forward.
#dreemerforlife
I love this, being able to create a story that you can live and feel while you read it. It will be interesting to venture into this. Already imagining something ideal. #dreemerforlife
Im already imagining too!!! hahaha
Absolutely! This is what makes any story great to read. When you can immerse the reader into your own world and allow them to feel as though they are there with the characters, living and breathing their lives.
To be frank, this is the first time I am hearing of show-and-tell as we never got to do anything like that in our school. I guess we learn everyday
There is a great article I have shared in the post about show and tell. Take a read and let me know what you think.
This sound interesting ,I think I will give it a trial though its new to me but I will try my best.
@rukkie and @mcyusuf come and check this out.
#dreemerforlife
Show and tell, very interesting prompt. I love the challenge that comes with this for me
@balikiss 95 thanks for the invite
#dreemerforlife
This is simply intriguing, 'show, don't tell', to think that I recent read about this not too long ago.
#dreemerforlife
thank you for giving us these tips to make stories that remain in the reader's memory and impress with their descriptions.
#dreemerforlife
I’ll need to sleep over this as my head is currently fried lol… Would sure try to beat the deadline.
#dreemerforlife
@buezor and @iyimoga
Mind checking this contest out. It'll be fun to write with the prompt
@balikis95 @beeeee @eunice9200 @nwothini335 @amiegeoffrey @loveth97
@idlemind @jhymie @tengolotodo
@kingsleyy @fragozar01 @abenad @fredaa @liberius-1 @bipolar95
10 Dreem tokens are awarded to each of you for taking part in Dreemport Bounty. Keep Dreeming ❤️
Thank you
Thank you
Thank you 😊
Thank you so much☺️❤️
Thank you
Thank you
Wow! This is amazing and so succinctly illustrated that it will be amazing going through all the reads this prompt will create. 🤩
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