Flash Extravaganza Day 18: Guest Post from Amy Barnes!
smells like writer spirit
Image by Kathrin Pienaar from Pixabay
Hi everyone!
Today, we have a guest post from writer and editor Amy Barnes! Keep reading for a terrific craft piece, along with a fun prompt and illustrative excerpts from Jennifer Fliss, Barbara Diggs, Allison Field Bell, Meg Pokrass, Joyce Bingham, and Tara Campbell. Thank you, Amy!
Amy’s newsletter, “Edgeways,” is coming soon! In Amy’s words: “Edgeways is a someday Stack, a glint in my writer's eye. I appreciate my fellow writers who've signed up, despite it only sending off aspirational creative vibes for now.”
If you’re just joining us now, missed or want to revisit something, find ALL extravaganza prompts & posts by clicking the button below. And do consider joining us, for this event, and all other paid supporter perks!
First, an announcement: Write with Me in West Virginia this Fall!
This retreat is nearly sold out! Ellen Weeren, with Reason to Write Workshops, has invited me back to West Virginia for another residential flash workshop outside beautiful Harpers Ferry in October! Last year’s was an absolute blast and autumn is the perfect time to be there. The venue is lovely, and Ellen, along with writer Andrew Bertaina will be giving guest lectures! Would love to have you join us!
Smells like writer spirit
What does a mall smell like? Chipping paint in Miami Vice colors? Sweaty teens wandering in packs? Perfume counters and candle scents wafting out into the middle? The 1980s?
My husband and I accidentally went into a mall that has since been marked for demolition and redevelopment. That day a few months ago - we could feel and smell that the entire mall was on the edge of disappearing. It felt and smelled sad. We took pictures of closed stores, the sparse food court, empty kiosks, stray ride-on stuffed animals. We also took in the “80s smell.” It’s a hard and easy thing to pinpoint - decades of mold, lingering cigarette smoke, older building materials, tile floors with stains and outdoor shoe prints, greasy food court film.
These aren’t easy sensory details to describe with words. Invoking a sense of smell in writing has always felt difficult to me, but is also so visceral and important. It’s even harder in flash when there isn’t room for lengthy exposition.
I chose a mall for today’s prompt because it’s such a cacophony of people, backdrop and smells from both. When writing with sensory smell details - we can use the mention of a smell, the smell of a specific singular thing or go simpler and write - it smells like a dying suburban mall. Choosing broader mentions can allow readers to assign their own emotions - and smell memories.
As I was researching related readings that include strong senses of smell, this line from Jennifer Fliss’ “Pears” at Ruby Lit (scroll down to find the story) sums up the emotional connection to writing smells for me: “The smell of bread from the bakery like it was a gift.”
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