Thursday's Children - What does inspiration smell like?

I think that everyone knows that scents are capable of evoking strong emotional memories. Fresh baked bread, lilacs, oranges and cloves, incense, peonies - I have strong scent associations with all of those things. Hell, even the smell of fresh cut hay and cow manure bring out the nostalgia in me since I spent a lot of my childhood summers on working dairy and sustenance farms.

As beginner writers, we're often reminded to utilize all of the senses in order to more effectively bring our stories to life for our readers. In a lot of books that I read, I've noticed that scent is probably the most neglected of the senses. It's an important one, though. Its inclusion adds a subtle depth to scenes, helping to anchor the reader more firmly in the realities of the stories we read and write.

I'm a big proponent of aromatherapy, and I even use it while writing. In addition to using specific music to set the mood, I also use scents - either perfume oils or scented candles. Yes, I know the candle thing sounds like a giant cliché, but the scents really do help put me in the right frame of mind to get down to work. They also help with description to more effectively and evocatively describe the scene - especially since I can't always drop everything and head to the lake shore or the the woods!

 And if you're in the market for some inspiring scents, may I recommend, The Mindful Mushroom?

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