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The Four Senses You’re Not Using

Look at the last scene you wrote.

You almost certainly described what it looked like. The light through the window, the color of her coat, the way he stood in the doorway.

Now count the rest. How many times did your reader hear something? Smell something? Taste anything? Feel a texture against skin?

For most writers, the answer is close to zero. We write with one sense and never reach for the other four.

That isn’t a failure of imagination. Sight is the sense we have the most vocabulary for, so it arrives first and easiest, and it fills the space before the others get a chance. A scene built on sight alone is a scene the reader watches from outside, but they do not get the full sensory experience.

The writers whose stories stay with you aren’t more observant than you are. They’ve learned what each sense can do that the others cannot, and when to reach for which one.

What You’ll Discover

In this workshop with award-winning author Jo Gatford, you’ll work through all five senses in turn, learning why each one works, what it can carry that the others can’t, and how to get it on the page without slowing your story down.

By the end of this workshop, you’ll know how to:

• Describe what a character sees in a way that also carries emotion and memory
• Use sound to give the reader information you would otherwise have to explain
• Use silence, and what a character doesn’t hear, to build tension
• Find language for smell and taste, the two senses most writers skip because the words are hard
• Show who a character is through touch, including the touch that never happens
• Decide which details are worth the words when you only have room for a few
• Describe things that have no literal smell or taste, like a mood or a season

Plus: You’ll leave with a handful of new story ideas, fresh drafts, and detailed cheat sheets you can reference forever.

What’s Included

• Two intensive 3-hour days with award-winning author Jo Gatford
• Close analysis of published stories, each chosen to demonstrate a specific sensory technique
• Guided writing exercises built on photographic prompts, one for every sense
• Idea generation prompts drawn from each story you study
• Cheat sheets covering sensory technique and how to use each of the five senses
• Interactive feedback opportunities to share and discuss your work
• Lifetime access to all recordings, materials, and resources

The Sensory Techniques We’ll Study

Each story we study is chosen to demonstrate one specific technique you can use in your own work:

• Hermit crab structure, where a story borrows the shape of something else entirely
• Repetition and motif used to build a rhythm the reader feels
• Abstraction, and how to write a sense that has no obvious vocabulary
• Onomatopoeia and ordinary noise doing the work of characterization
• Silence, and how the absence of a sound carries meaning
• The list story, and how it merges senses without explaining them
• Food and scent as a way to reveal who a character is
• Weight and body awareness, and the kind of touch that happens without contact

You’ll learn to read these stories the way Jo does, seeing exactly which sensory choice is doing the work and why.

Perfect For Writers Who:

• Describe what a scene looks like and aren’t sure what else to add
• Have been told their writing feels flat or distant, without being told why
• Reach for the same handful of sensory details in every story
• Want to write smell, taste, and touch but can’t find the words for them
• Have a draft that works on the page and still doesn’t move anyone
• Are ready to stop decorating scenes and start using detail to carry meaning
• Want the kind of specificity an editor notices in a submission pile

“Jo has had a profound impact on my writing. Her wise words have steered me to be better, and her empathy and responsiveness is remarkable. I recommend her whole-heartedly.”

— Amanda J

“Jo, thank you for this lesson. Your material, examples, and prompt charts are all so thoughtful & super-inspiring. […] Fascinating examples here and excellent questions that really help to yank me inside the text. […] Pondering your questions led me into some surprising interpretations!”

— Melissa C

“Thanks for the abundance of examples in each lesson — it’s amazing to see all the different things that can be achieved with such limited words!”

— Nikita E-L

⏰ 👉 Not sure if this time works for you? Check your local time here

Day 1: October 10

10 AM PT / 11 AM MT / 12 PM CT / 1 PM ET / 6 PM BST (3 hours)

• Open with the question of which sense you rely on most, and why the answer is almost always sight
• Learn what sight can do past basic description, connecting emotion, memory, and meaning to visual imagery
• Study published stories for hermit crab structure, repetition motif, thought association, and abstraction
• Write from photographic prompts, working with light and dark, movement and stillness
• Turn to sound: atmosphere, setting, dialogue, music and memory, and the information a noise carries without explanation
• Study how silence and the absence of sound create meaning and subtext
• Share your work and leave with a challenge to use sight and sound in a way you haven’t before

Day 2: October 11

10 AM PT / 11 AM MT / 12 PM CT / 1 PM ET / 6 PM BST (3 hours)

• Take on smell and taste, the two senses with the least available vocabulary and the strongest pull on memory
• Learn to use them as anchor points to routine, place, and character
• Study list stories, merged senses, and food and scent used as characterization
• Write sensory abstraction: the smell of a doctor’s appointment, a milky smile, peppery impatience
• Move to touch: texture, weight, proximity, intimacy, and violence
• Study how touch creates significance through subtext, including the touch that never happens
• Close with how to pick the right sense for a story, and how to fold every technique into drafts you’ve already written

Can’t make it live? All participants receive LIFETIME ACCESS to workshop recordings and materials.

Underprivileged discounts are available to a handful of students. Please email shannon@101words.org and provide an explanation of your situation.

Imagine finishing a scene and knowing exactly which sense it needs. Not adding description because the paragraph looks thin, but reaching for a smell because a smell is the only thing that will carry what you need it to carry.

That’s what changes here. You stop decorating your scenes and start building them. The detail does real work: it establishes who someone is, sets the temperature of a room, and plants information you never have to explain.

This isn’t a gift some writers are born with. It’s a set of techniques, and they can be taught. Editors notice the difference immediately, because a story that puts a reader inside a scene is a story they finish.

Your Investment

Workshop Price: $99
Value: Lifetime access to techniques you’ll use in every scene you write from now on

Underprivileged discounts are available to a handful of students. Please email shannon@101words.org and provide an explanation of your situation.

What skill level is this workshop designed for?

This workshop benefits writers at all levels, from beginners seeking a strong foundation to published authors looking to refine their techniques.

Will I get individual feedback on my writing?

While we don’t offer one-on-one feedback, volunteers can share their exercise work during class, and the instructor will provide live feedback that benefits all participants.

What if I can’t attend the live session?

No problem. You’ll receive recordings of both complete sessions plus all materials, so you can work through everything at your own pace and return to the content whenever needed.

Will I have time to write during the sessions?

Absolutely. This is a hands-on workshop with multiple guided writing exercises. You’ll create new work and have opportunities to share and receive feedback.

Can I ask questions during the workshop?

Yes! This is an interactive session with questions and discussion integrated throughout the workshop.

I have another question.

Feel free to reach out to Shannon: shannon@101words.org

You already know how to describe what something looks like. That’s the sense you’ve been practicing your whole life. The other four can each do something sight cannot.

After two days with Jo, you’ll know what each one is for. And your readers will be inside your scenes instead of watching them.

Underprivileged discounts are available to a handful of students. Please email shannon@101words.org and provide an explanation of your situation.

Can’t attend live? No worries! All participants receive access to workshop recordings.

Questions? Contact shannon@101words.org