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The concept of the “five senses” is not unfamiliar to most—in fact, as early as pre-school, many of us were taught various rhyme sequences and made-up songs to help us remember them. The five senses allow us to perceive, absorb, and navigate the world—but that is not all. They are also quite functional in the context of storytelling.

A good story is one that engages all five of the reader’s senses. Let us take, for example, a story where the main character is strolling through the city. The author must be able to convey the story in such a way that readers can place themselves directly in the character’s shoes. Readers should be able to visualize the tall, looming skyscrapers above them; hear the blaring of horns and chattering of fellow city-goers; smell the pollution-infused air drifting through the square; taste the flavorful punch of roasted peanuts purchased from a local street-food vendor; and feel the rugged, pot-hole infused streets beneath their feet. To help readers truly emulate a character’s journey, authors must appeal to each of their five senses using creativity and vivid imagery. Perhaps the term ‘storyteller’ is counterintuitive, as an engaging story is one where the writer can show, not tell. Simply stating events as they occur may be ideal for a news report, but it is certainly unideal for retaining the interest of readers. Instead, conveying the events in a way that allows readers to feel as though they are experiencing them first-hand will boost engagement. The key to doing so? Keeping the five senses in mind and using them as a guideline while writing.

Read more: Sensory Stories: Crafting Vivid Narratives That Engage All Five Senses By Navya Sharma

Narrators play a pivotal role in storytelling, presenting the events and details that shape the storyline through their unique perspectives. The narrator is essentially a tool employed by the author to give readers a selective perspective of the story. As readers, we process the story through the eyes of the narrator. Our understanding of the various literary elements—plot, dialogue, conflict, resolution, theme—is shaped by the narrator’s very own (biased) perception. Whether it be first-person narration, where the narrator themself is narrating the story, or third-person narration, where a third party who is not directly involved in the storyline is narrating, we as readers share the narrator’s impression of the world around them.

As readers, we inherently rely on narrators to convey their stories in an authentic way, allowing us to process or make meaning of events and conflicts on our own. However, the fact of the matter is that many narrators are not reliable at all. Every narrator is unique and influenced by their respective biases and emotions. Oftentimes, in following along with a narrator’s rendition of a story, we subconsciously adopt those same biases and emotions—which prevents us from asking ourselves a critical question: Can we really trust the narrator’s version of the story?

Read more: "The Art of Unreliable Narration" by Navya Sharma '25

By: Sean Wesen '22

Having trouble with low stakes, boring characters, or an uninteresting narrative? We’ve got you covered. Below are a list of tips and tricks to help you develop your story into a compelling narrative.

Respect the Stakes

All writers want readers to be invested in their story. That is why you need to be very careful with your story's stakes. They are sacred and should not be taken lightly. Set the stakes early on and if your characters don't heed said stakes, make sure they face repercussions. Never do anything to weaken these stakes or undermine them because if you do, it makes your character's struggles much less interesting.

Read more: Tips for Narrative Development

By: Sean Wesen '22

Are you an aspiring writer who needs some advice on how to fine tune your work? Or perhaps an experienced pro looking to pick up a few tips? Below we have collected a handful of tidbits that ought to help you revise your work into a masterpiece. 

Revise Out Loud: Typos have a way of falling through the cracks of a heavily revised piece. The best way to root them out for good is to read your work aloud. This will help the typos to stand out.

Read more: How to Revise

by Sean Wesen ‘22

You’re staying home tonight. Your roommates all went out for steak, but you told them to go without you because you’re a vegetarian. That was a lie, but much less embarrassing than trying to explain that you couldn’t afford it. You think to yourself “I’m going to make a great starving artist one day” and smile. 

While you feel bummed about being left out, you have decided to make the most of the night by being productive. Homework? Studying? Job searching? No no no. Sure, you want to be productive, but not THAT productive. Instead you are going to finally work on that horror story you've been sitting on.

You have only managed to just barely get out a page, but you are so sensitive to sound that you can only work in complete silence. With everyone gone and the house all to yourself, now is the perfect time. Or at least that’s what you thought. 

Read more: How to Write Killer Horror Story

By: Sean Wesen '22

Whether you're a seasoned Rutgers student or an incoming freshman, the decision of what to major or minor in can be a stressful one, even if it's one you don't have to make for another few years. It’s a difficult balance between what you're good at, what's marketable, what's profitable, and what's fun. Perhaps you're in that situation right now and are researching the creative writing minor in hopes of finding your answer. If that's the case, while we can't make the decision for you, we would be happy to walk you through the creative writing minor to decide if it's the right fit for you.

Read more: 5 Reasons Why You Should Minor in Creative Writing

By: Sean Wesen '22

Your ally, confident in their acrobatic abilities, leaps across the ledge and makes the one in a million mistake of loosing his grip. In a flash you quick draw your arcane focus, but can you cast the feather fall enchantment before he's a puddle on the bottom of the crevice?

You have been making small talk with the vault guard for a good while now and finally you can see your words infused with insidious magic have taken a hold of him as evidenced by his suddenly wild eyes darting to and fro. He can't tell ally from foe and suddenly bolts for the door. As you signal your fellow miscreants you smile knowing that the no one stands between you and treasures beyond your wildest dreams.

With the last of her energy she heals your broken body and you wake with a start. All around you your merry band of adventures lay beaten and unconscious. You are the last one standing and the levitating orb of flesh and eye stalks laughs maniacally. It seems as if all hope is lost, but you know this beast is on its last legs so to say, and if you can best it you have enough healing potions to stabilize your team. The odds aren't in your favor, but that doesn't stop you from raising you blade and charging forward with a mighty cry.

Read more: Why D&D is Great for Young Writers

By: Sean Wesen '22

A poet, editor, and Part Time Lecturer at Rutgers, Emily Wallis Hughes grew up in Agua Caliente, California. Her first book, Sugar Factory, was published in 2019. She was also my first creative writing professor during my fall semester at Rutgers, a class I chose on a whim during add/drop week. Four years later, after graduating as an English major and creative writing minor, I sat down with Emily to discuss her new position as Editorial Co-Director of Fence, a nonprofit independent publisher of the award-winning and influential biannual literary magazine, Fence, full-length books of poetry and prose, The Constant Critic, and Fence Digital. 

Read more: Meet the Faculty: Emily Wallis Hughes

By: Sean Wesen '22

 Writers House welcomes you back to Rutgers! We hope your summer was a relaxing one and that you got some writing done and read books that you love. Now that you're back, we are happy to tell you that we have exciting things planned for the coming weeks.

Join us for a conversation about Southern history, the natural world, Black religious experience, and photographic practice, in conjunction with the exhibition Meeting Tonight: Two South Carolina African American Camp Meetings. Artist Holly Lynton and Rutgers professor Maurice Wallace discuss their collaboration on this project, which started in 2017. Lynton's photographs of camp meetings in the sacred outdoors are accompanied by Wallace's homiletical meditations. Together, image and text convey an emotional history and materialize a prayer for its undefined future.

Holly Lynton is an award-winning fine arts photographer based in Massachusetts. Maurice Wallace is a Rutgers professor who has served two North Carolina African American congregations as lead minister.

A reception follows the talk.

On view at the Zimmerli through September 25, the exhibition is a collaboration among Holly Lynton, Maurice Wallace, and the Gospel Materialities Working Group in the Center for Cultural Analysis at Rutgers.

Save the date for the return of the Writers at Rutgers series. Writers at Rutgers is an exchange between well-known writers of diverse backgrounds and the Rutgers students and faculty. This semester you'll be able to hear from Joyce Carol Oates on Wednesday October 19, Raven Leilani on November 9, and Robert Jones Jr. on Wednesday March 1, 2023. More details to follow about both events.

Joyce Carol Oates is a prolific writer known for novels like A Garden of Earthly Delights, The Falls and Them. One of her books, Blonde, is now a Netflix series. S

We are also happy to announce the visit of award winning author Raven Leilani. Her book, Luster, was awarded the 2020 Kirkus Prize for Fiction, the 2020 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, the 2020 John Leonard Prize at the National Book Critics Circle Awards, the 2021 Dylan Thomas Prize, and the 2021 VCU Cabell First Novelist Award. Don't miss the opportunity to talk with this lauded author on November 9.

Our final guest is Robert Jones Jr., author of The Prophets, a finalist for the 2021 National Book Award for Fiction. He is a writer, and also the creator and curator of the social-justice social-media community Son of Baldwin, which has over 300,000 followers across platforms. Make sure to be here when he visits Rutgers on March 1.

This semester will also see the return of the fan favorite Inside the Writers House sessions. For those who don't know, Inside the Writers House is candid access to working writers from all over the world as beloved Writers House instructor (and former bookstore owner) Alex Dawson talks craft (via video chat) with some of the year's hottest pen pushers.

View video compilation of recent Inside the Writers House events here.

Last but not least, we have the Winter Creativity Showcase, a biannual event featuring the creative work of Rutgers English and creative writing students. Held in the winter and spring of each year, this event illustrates the many talents of our students in the categories of poetry, creative nonfiction, fiction, playwriting, and multimedia. Winning students will read from their work or show a sample of their video or podcast projects. Interested in sharing your work? Keep an eye out on our website and social media channels for more information.

As you can see, we have big things planned for this semester, so stay tuned...

For regular updates on current and future events be sure to follow @RU_WritersHouse on twitter, @Rutgers English on Facebook, and @ru_writershouse on Instagram.

Writer: Sean Wesen, '22

This week, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Meggi Blazeska. Meggi was raised in Skopje, North Macedonia. Currently, she is the External Secretary for the Rutgers Creative Writing club. She is majoring in Economics, minoring in Creative Writing and Entrepreneurship, and will graduate in 2022. We talked about her history with writing, thoughts on the club, publishing opportunities, and much more.

Read more: Student Experience: Meggi Blazeska