Last night, I was working on a story that hasn't quite decided whether it wants to be a screenplay, a novel, or both. In a scene in the novel version, a battle breaks out in the great hall between an invading army and the castle's defenders. The heroine and her friends take advantage of the chaos to rescue a hostage who's tied to a chair. When they get close enough to help him, they find he's a mess from a head wound that later requires stitches. (Don't worry, he survives.)
Now, a lot of writing advice says to include details from all five senses when describing things. In fact, I believe I've said it myself in at least one of my previous posts.
But as I worked on this scene and tried to add more sensory details, a question struck me: "What does blood smell like?"
I mean, we've all probably injured ourselves enough to recognize that distinct scent. But what words would best describe it? Most descriptions I've read use language similar to "the smell of blood," and I'd read on a Pinterest thread that "blood isn't smelly when it's fresh." But for someone who was looking for specific adjectives, none of that was terribly helpful.
So I did what any self-respecting modern writer would do. I Googled it.
As it turns out, no one seems to have a good answer to this question. But this discussion brought up some great points to consider when writing about smells (and tastes):
Metallic, coppery, and salty tend to be popular words to describe the scent and/or taste of blood, though people disagree on how accurate these descriptions are.
Human biology prioritizes sight and sound over scent and taste as sources of information, particularly in situations that trigger a fight-or-flight response. That is, humans can't smell nearly as well as we can see and hear.
Despite #2, the sense of smell is strongly linked to memory, even in high-stress situations.
English doesn't have a lot of words for describing smells and tastes unless you want to use highly technical terms that most readers probably won't understand.
As a result of #4, often the best way we have to describe smells and tastes is "as themselves": "It smelled like fresh-cut grass," "The beverage tasted of an odd mixture of vanilla and lemon," etc.
I also discovered that people on message boards might recommend doing some weird things if they find out you don't know what something smells or tastes like. This amusing clip from Avatar: The Last Airbender (the TV show, not the movie--never fear!) provides an excellent demonstration of why following such advice is a Bad Idea.
Write on,
Candice
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(Thanks to Brook Anderson for sharing their work on Unsplash.)
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