I wrote the above post-it note over the weekend and stuck it to the white board above my desk. A reminder. It sits next to a Pokémon card a student gave me and it’s been glaring at me for two days, but I’ll feel its ramifications for some time.

Over the weekend, I threw myself into Project: HARP, my middle-grade fantasy novel. Now, I say “threw” because I hand wrote 7 pages alone yesterday to make up for the fact I didn’t write on Saturday and Friday.

Writing break…

So, tried to cover all that lost ground. In that 7 page marathon, I grew frustrated with how certain scenes played out. I know this is a fantasy world and I know what it looked like in my mind, but how do I communicate that to readers so they understand what I want them to? It felt like it wasn’t coming across clearly.

On one of my breaks, I read Philip Reeve’s novel, “Mortal Engines,” of which there’s a movie coming out later this year. An awesome steampunk, science fiction ride on a giant city, I found myself completely immersed in the world. Every nook and cranny and item was clear to see and I thought, “How is he doing this so I can steal his powers?”

Looking at just one page, I wrote the post-it note, to remind me of what matters when I set a scene:

Sights? Sounds? Smells?

Sights I feel is my stronger suit of the 3, meaning to better paint a word picture, I have to remember that Sounds and Smells can help set a scene just as effectively.

So, for today’s Writing Skill-Grid, I’m going to try and create a fantasy scene that communicates all 3 parts.

Scene: John walked into the Goblin Library.

Simple enough sentence that could exist in any fantasy story. So, let’s first do Sights.

Scene V.2: John walked into the Goblin Library. The shelves rose from floor to just above his waste, filled to the brim with old, cracked leather books. So many sat on the shelves that some even stuck out of the shelf from being stuffed in.

A little clearer, I can see it in my mind more. Let’s do the next one, Sounds.

Scene V.3: John stepped into the Goblin Library. The shelves rose from floor to just above his waste, filled to the brim with old, cracked leather books. So many sat on the shelves that some even stuck out of the shelf from being stuffed in. Complete silence engulfed John’s ears, but he could hear the faint echoes as the library stretched out in front of him. A dozens of miniature tables, goblin researchers sat and scratched away in their tomes, making notes on whatever books they studied. Silence and the sounds of pens working was a wonderful greeting to John’s ears.

So now the library isn’t just empty, it has life, it has blood flowing through. So, what would a goblin library Smell like?

Scene V.4: John stepped into the Goblin Library. The shelves rose from floor to about his waste, filled to the brim with old, cracked leather books. So many sat on the shelves that some even stuck out of the shelf from being stuffed in. John wafted his hand in front of his nose to disperse the smell of dust and rotted leather. Each book’s old pages overwhelmed his sense of smell, but the dust from the tops of the shelves made John’s allergies act up first. However, complete silence engulfed John’s ears, but he could hear the faint echoes as the library stretched out in front of him. A dozens of miniature tables, goblin researchers sat and scratched away in their tomes, making notes on whatever books they studied. Silence and the sounds of pens working was a wonderful greeting to John’s ears.

Again, is this good?

Who knows, it all depends on the reader. Now I know what I need to do to help convey my fantasy scenes just a bit better when it matters most.