Sensory Deprivation in Writing

I love writing for the 1NS line at decadent publishing. In this IR story, I decided to do something totally different than normal. I love adding a bit of kink in with my romance but realized I had yet to write a sensory deprivation story.

The idea was easy, the execution was difficult. I did more than just blindfold the partner during an intimate scene. I made the first date in the dark. That's right. No blindfold, well maybe for a minute in the beginning. The Opening scene of Trading Up is done in pitch blackness. The heroine and Hero  meet at a dining in the dark restaraunt where they must get to know each other's personalities without the instant judging once locking eyes on each other.

I felt that this was a good way to show that we people can lose a good chance at finding happiness because we make snap decisions and judgements off of one single glance.

Its true. They say, that men know if the woman they meet are worth taking home to mama in ten seconds after meeting or if they'll be a bag and tag.

Women take one look at clothing, appearance and instantly judge if the man has the means to provide for them, if he's a slacker, a bum, or a white or blue collar type of guy.

Our snap judgement or quick assessments can land us in hot water. No one can guess right at first glance. So with my couple who like to be too picky. I took that option away from them and had the magnificent Madame Eve work her magic.

During their dinner, they had the option of greeting each other by voice, touch, and sampling food and wine by taste. They had the murmurs and hushed conversations of others in the background. With sight gone other senses are heightened.

Writing Trading Up was a joy and a great learning experience on how to layer deep third pov with every sense possible fleshed out.

Here are a list of the senses and how we can incorporate using them in our work!

Sight- Vision. Nerve impulses give us varying colors, hues and brightness.

Perception of depth can also be argued as an agreeable sense.

Taste- Taste is often confused with sense of flavor.  It’s important to know the difference between the two.

Taste is categorized by qualities: sweetness, bitterness, sourness, saltiness and umami . Umami is consistency.

Touch- Receptors in the skin, hair follicles, tongue and throat activated by neural receptors.

Balance/ Equlibrioreception- Is known as body movement, sense of direction and acceleration. The three parts help maintain balance. The receptor is located in the inner ear.

Have you ever had a bad sinus infection?

Not only will the physician prescribe antibiotics, they will also prescribe a nasal spray. Why? When you have a really bad sinus infection the inner ears are affected. The nasal spray will open up the passages allowing for the ability to maintain balance. Without the nasal spray the infection my get better but sight and balance will be affected. Ex: seeing black dots in, dizziness, inability to walk straight or stand upright.

Temperature- Sense of heat or cold. This sense is great for paranormal authors. The sense of smell plays an important factor in shifter romances or novels.  Sense of cold for scent and telling wind for  direction.

Kinesthetic- is when your body part can do one thing without the other parts knowing or seeing.

Pain- Pain attracts our attention to dangers and will motivate us to avoid them.

Time- is the sense of perception of time passage and how it’s experienced. This is also a great sense for sci fi or time shifting stories.

In Writing

What can my POV Character Hear?

What can my POV Character See?

What can my POV Character Taste?

What can my POV Character Touch?

How can I make the reader experience all of these senses in his/her  POV?

Use senses that heighten a specific scene in your writing.

Example: Fear

Example: Elation/Happiness