Well, which one is it, when you’re considering aroma vs odor or stench in your writing?
How Choosing Aroma vs Odor or Stench Affects Your Writing
I can’t recall where I read this (and it may have just been in a Facebook group on writing), but using three or more senses can really get your readers into the story. It’s a lot more intimate than just sketching.
For many of us, the visuals and the sound are kinda, sorta a no-brainer. At least, we realize that we should do them. But what about smells?
Perhaps the most vital part of this is knowing that we have a few different words for smells. It’s not just aroma vs odor or stench. Don’t forget there are also bouquet, smell, scent, stink, trace, perfume, and redolence.
Even the verb form can run the gamut of a delicate whiff to an animals’ sniff to a snort. So, let’s pull your readers in, by using smells.
You know, just like bakeries and their freshly-made cakes and cookies can bring in customers.
Why and How Aroma vs Odor or Stench Can Change Readers’ Perceptions
Your readers want to get into the storyline. But they might not be ‘getting it’. So, if you add some smells, they can, potentially, become more immersed.
The Pleasant Stuff: Aromas
In the prequel to The Real Hub of the Universe, Ceilidh sees roses for the first time, in the Barnes House in Ballyvaughan. For a life spent in poverty, roses are an exceptional luxury. It’s a testament to how wealthy the Barnes family is. At the same time, the aroma is a far cry from the working people of the village (I’ll get to them in a moment).
In The Obolonk Murders, Peri jokes with Dave that he has more personal grooming products than she does. During a particularly (ahem) intimate sex act, she smells one of his products, which is redolent of the tropics.
And in Mettle, when Mink returns, she uses very expensive shampoo and conditioner, left behind by the previous tenants.
There’s also, of course, the aromas of cooking in most of my work. The chef on Marnie’s ship makes chicken soup with matzoh balls—even though the chef is an Irish Catholic.
The Middle-of-the-Road Stuff: Smells
One of my favorite conceits in the Obolonk universe is that terraforming operations give off an odor that people want to mask. As a result, the orbs have their own signature smells. Venus, for example, smells like pineapple. These aren’t always the greatest smells (there’s an orb that smells like a fireplace). But, for the most part, it’s a pleasant experience.
It’s also an easy way to tell which orb you’re on.
The Icky Stuff: Stenches
In Ceilidh’s world, people quite simply don’t bathe as often as we do these days. And, when they do, her fellow villagers bathe in the deepest part of the Ballyvaughan creek. But in between occasions to go to the creek, the people work hard and they wear wool or flax for the most part.
In short, they’ve probably got a lot of body odor. This doesn’t get any better when she gets on a ship. There’s rotting fish, and of course it reeks.
And for Josie, a lot of the smells of cooking can make her gag, particularly in the morning. So, we might not be bothered by the smell of slightly burned meats. For her, it’s probably going to mean a trip to the head.
No Smells at All!
And finally, the aliens in Untrustworthy don’t have much in the way of noses. So, it’s not a big deal one way or the other how things smell.
Takeaways
You can truly elevate your writing by tackling multiple senses. It can be subtle like perfume, or overpowering, like a carcass.
Our sense of smell is fleeting. And, compared to dogs, it’s weak. But it can still evoke memory, and it can add another dimension to any scene.
Which aromas are wafting through your prose?
Want More of Using Aroma vs Odor or Stench and Other Background to Evoke the Senses in Writing?
If the idea of leveraging aroma vs odor or stench in your writing resonates with you, then check out my other articles about using sense cues.
Sense Cues:
- Senses
- Scene Setting
- Set Dressing—Visual Cues in Writing
- Hairstyles and Costumes—Visual Cues in Writing
- Aroma vs Odor or Stench—Olfactory Cues in Writing
- Mixing a Score in Words and Music—Sound Cues in Writing
- Disgusting vs Delicious—Taste Cues in Writing
- Hot or Cold, Rough or Smooth, Hard or Soft—Tactile Cues in Writing