Creative writing workshop with Helena Dahlgren – lesson 5
Welcome back to Helena Dahlgren’s journey through creative writing! The author of the Soul Riders trilogy is back for part five of her writing workshop, helping you unlock a range of secrets, tricks and tips so that you can level up your creative writing skills!
Lesson 5: Sensational Senses! Part four – taste
I love it when something I read or listen to makes me experience the world differently, small or big. Ever since I first listened to the R.E.M. song “E-bow the letter” many moons ago and heard Michael Stipe sing “aluminium tastes like fear” I always think of that weird taste you get in your mouth when you’re scared as “aluminium tastes like fear.” Today, I want you to write about taste. What memories are jogged by a specific taste? Is it a happy memory? Or a scary one, like the metallic taste of aluminium? (Mind you, I’ve never actually tasted aluminium, and neither should you!) On a less gloomy note, I can never taste orange-flavoured ice cream without being brought back to my front porch in the house where I grew up. Sadly, orange-flavoured ice cream is hard to come by, at least here in Sweden, but the strange part is that I can actually TASTE it when I think about that day. My dad and I had taken our bikes to the small convenience store in our neighbourhood. It was a warm summer’s day and we had to pedal fast home to make sure the tub of ice cream we had bought didn’t melt. It tasted sweet and sunny, like Florida in spring-time. I’ve never tasted anything as good since.
EXERCISE: In this exercise, you are writing in the first person (“I”). You are sitting at a table, eating something that brings back a memory. What is it and what does it taste like? More importantly: how does it make you feel? Happy? Safe? Worried? Like a five-year-old kid again? Does it remind you of someone? Who might that be? Don’t be afraid of using your emotions! Taste is such a powerful thing in our lives – it should show in your writing!
“As I sit at the table, eating way too much pizza, I burp and suddenly feel the strangest memories washing over me. The taste of slightly greasy pizza cheese reminds me of Star Stable Archie and his pizza-loving ways.”
We’re excited to check out your thoughts and ideas on this latest tasty topic!
Join Helena for her next lesson or click here to return to lesson 4.