Deprive one sense. Write a story fragment, or a story scene, describing a person who has lost one sense, such as the sense of sight. Instead of describing how things appear in light and physical forms, show how the character interacts with the world -- and senses things -- with all of her other senses -- smell, touch, sound and taste. The character does not need to have a permanent medical condition. For example, if the scene takes place at a party, maybe all the power goes out and the person -- along with the other guests -- must touch, hear and smell her way out of the room. Use detail and a sense of humor to show the confusion and discovery. For instance, the person may feel an animal's wet nose, hear footsteps that sound miles away, and keep tasting the chocolate pudding he had just bitten into when the lights went out. Appreciate the other senses better by deleting one. For more of a challenge, exclude all of the senses but one, such as taste, to tell a story.
Synesthetes, people with synesthesia, have a neurological condition that mixes up sensory signals. For example, a synesthete may hear footsteps on a sidewalk and taste chocolate. Another individual may see a playground jungle-gym and feel a silky texture across his fingertips. Describe a synesthete's world. For this creative writing sensory assignment, you can research synesthesia and write a creative report, interview a person with this neurological disorder or make up observations based on facts you have learned. Famous artists who likely had the condition -- such as the painter Vasily Kandinsky (1866-1944) and composer Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) -- explored the condition through artwork.
Concentrating solely on the senses can change our whole perspective on our daily routine. Writing a short essay or poem about the senses you experience in the morning may awaken you, and hopefully your reader, to the extraordinary world of which we are a part sensually. Write the story or poem using specific senses of smell, such as coffee brewing, or the smell of last night's trash, as the first smell in the morning. Moving from smell to touch to taste, paint a world that is constantly sensually exciting.
Smell is difficult to describe. Some say that the only way to describe a smell is by describing another smell. For example, you might say roses smell like a newborn baby's hair. A description with "like" or "as" is called a simile. As a smell exploration, make a list of the smells you want to describe. Keep the smells appropriate, that is, something you would not mind reading about at the breakfast table. Make a list of smells you consider challenging to describe and spend some time coming up with clear, concise ways to describe them. For instance, listing "onions, fresh laundry, first days of summer, old books, new books and someone's morning breath" may enrich your sensory experiences. Keep the terms in a journal or computer file to sift into a poem or short story.