Saturday, November 2, 2024
Author Tips

Tips to use synesthesia as a literary device

Russian author Alexander Scriabin professed to encounter music as shading: The note C inspired pictures of the shading red in his brain, while G (an ideal fifth above C) was orange, for instance. Indeed, numerous performers guarantee to consider notes to be tones, from Scriabin’s Russian contemporary Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov to present day stars like Tori Amos and Billy Joel. Such mixing of tactile encounters is called synesthesia, and it isn’t restricted to music.

You can join the utilization of synesthesia as a logical gadget in your own writing. On the off chance that you can mix two of the five detects—sight, hearing, contact, taste, smell—together in an expression or a sentence, at that point you’ll have the option to portray basic types of synesthetic observations. Here are a few different ways to do that:

Use tones to depict sounds. In case you’re depicting pitiful, troubled music, why not call it “blue”? In the event that it’s enthusiastic, maybe call it “pink.” If it’s dismal, call it “dark.” Or resemble Oscar Wilde in An Ideal Husband and call it “mauve.”

Use temperature to portray sounds or pictures. Temperature-based synesthesia models incorporate “a searing guitar solo,” “a frosty look,” and “tepid backdrop.”

Utilize tactile words to portray feelings. Follow sentimental poetry and utilize every one of the five faculties to portray the sensations of affection and want.

Remember synesthetic characters for your story. Compose a character who encounters synesthesia as they burn-through workmanship. Portray that individual tuning in to music and synesthetic vibe of shadings that dives over them as each note is sounded. Or on the other hand invert the impact, and have a character experience synesthesia by hearing music as they take in the marvels of an enormous composition on a historical center divider.

Utilize synesthetic colloquialisms already recognizable to your crowd. For example, consider the expression “severe virus.” Bitterness is a taste sensation. Cold is, obviously, a touch sensation. Joined, these two sensations structure an informal term that sounds good to the English language ear.

Eli Scott

Eli Scott is our resident social media expert. He also writes about tips for authors to boost their presence online.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.