Think of the effects of a favorite piece of music, the sound of a person's voice, the whistle of a train. In conversation, tone of voice is a more reliable indicator of mood and meaning than words alone. Smell has the remarkable ability to evoke memories. Think of someone's perfume, the smell of new-car leather, the odor of wet dog. Then describe that smell effectively, and your reader is there .
Touch evokes a sensory response.
Let your reader feel the silkiness of a cat's fur, the roughness of castle stones, the prickly warmth of Dad's flannel shirt. Let your heroine's feet ache, let the wind raise goosebumps on her flesh, let the gorse thorns draw blood. Finally, there is taste, which is closely related to smell in its ability to evoke memories. Your heroine isn't going to start licking the castle stones, and it isn't time for lunch. This article originally appeared in The Writer .