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Readers want to enter your world; that is why they picked up your book. However, it’s harder than ever to engage a reader’s short attention span. An often discussed way of captivating the reader is to use sensory language. Make the reader smell, see, hear, feel, and taste your words. While that’s a common way of talking about writing, what does it mean to actually do it? What are overused phrases and how can authors utilize words that force a reader to experience a piece of work? Author and poet Melody Dean Dimick explains the beauty and importance of sensory language in her own work. Of course, the five senses need to be used in all forms of writing. Per Dominick, there’s something special about sensory language in poetry. Without sensory language, we tend to tell the reader about the scene instead of immersing the reader in the scene. Listen to the clip below as Dimick shares examples of sensory language.