Post: Sensory images in the opening paragraph

sensory images

If you’ve ever attended a writing workshop, the instructor may have taught that it’s always best to allow your readers to experience the events and scenes in your stories, rather than simply telling them what’s happening. Providing information has its place, as does “setting the scene” through the author’s descriptions. Throughout a story, however, and especially in the opening paragraph, sensory images work well to attract a readers’ attention and compel them to read the whole novel. 

Sensory images typically include elements of the five senses: sight, sound, taste, touch and smell. A skilled author knows how to weave descriptive language into the first paragraph, so that the story immediately “comes alive” in a reader’s mind. Word master and best-selling author, Stephen King, once said that the first sentence of a book sets the stage for the rest of the story. 

Using sensory images to capture readers’ attention

Perhaps you’re writing story that takes place in the Victorian era. You’re setting the scene in the opening paragraph with cobblestone streets, horse-drawn carriages, and more. Incorporating sensory images like misty fog, soft-falling rain or the clopping sounds of horses’ hooves awakens a reader’s senses. You might even want to include a more sensory-shocking description, such as the stench of garbage piled high and baking in the sun.

Written in a such a way that a reader “experiences” rather than “reads about” the scene provides what the publishing industry calls a “hook,” which makes people want to keep reading. It’s logical to assume that the sooner you use sensory images in a story, the better, so why not do it in the opening paragraph?

Descriptions help evoke emotions

In addition to capturing readers’ attention and drawing them into a story from the start, creative use of sensory images also evokes emotion. Taking the examples given in the previous section of soft-falling rain on a foggy day versus piles of garbage stewing under a hot sun, a reader might feel pensive and at-ease or immediately stressed or repulsed. Either is fine, as long as it stirs a desire to read the rest of the story. 

An experienced author has learned how to word descriptive phrases to keep readers engaged. As a novice, you might do a satisfactory job to clearly describe a scene. As you become more prolific in your career, you can hopefully take your writing to the next level by describing things so well using sensory images to make your readers “feel” your stories. And remember, timing is important. Try to reel them in through imagery in the first paragraph.