Using The Sense of Touch in Your Writing

That feels good!

I've been posting about the senses that we use in our writing off and on the past few months. Today, let's look at the sense of touch and how we can use it in our stories and essays, even poems. 

Think of the many different feelings we get when we touch various things. Some are pleasant while others are abhorrent. The little cat in our photo looks pretty contented at the touch of his human, doesn't he? I imagine the human is also enjoying connecting with the cat's soft coat. 

Here's a list of things we might like to touch: 

• a satin coverlet
• a fleece shirt
• velvet
• a dog
• a cat
• a rabbit
• any animal with a fur coat, as long as it is tame
• smooth wood

Another list of things we might not enjoy touching: 

• a porcupine
• sandpaper
• a gooey spill
• mud
• prickly pear cactus
• hot stove
• a bed of nails
• an iceberg

For an exercise, write something descriptive about each of the above showing how you feel as you touch each one. You may think of others to use, as well.

For velvet, you might write something like Rose slipped the midnight blue dress over her head and zipped it up the back. She ran her hands over the fabric and smiled as she touched the soft cloth. 

Adding the last part shows you that she liked the dress, liked the feel of the velvet. It adds something more instead of just saying that she put the dress on and zipped it. 

Adding sensory details to your writing makes the story, or whatever it is, far more interesting to the reader. It allows them to connect better. After all, they've experienced those sensory items and can identify immediately.