Engage the Senses, and You Engage Readers

Visuals are often a writer’s first consideration. You might describe dimensions, shape, and color. Sound could come next, followed by scent. You might assign taste attributes to food, teardrops, and lipstick.

But many writers undervalue texture.

After reading this paragraph, close your eyes and imagine a piece of driftwood that has been sitting on a shelf for three years. How would you describe it? Take your time.

…

Consider the following:

• After three years, the wood releases no scent.
• It lies on the shelf, silent.
• If you decide to check its taste, your tongue might pick up dust, or maybe it would catch on a knobby protuberance.
• Using your sense of touch, your fingers would feel grain or grooves; you’d notice hardness and temperature.

A Few Well-Chosen Texture Words Can Add Depth and Intrigue

Clanton’s palms patted the surface on both sides of her body. They met the velvety texture of … moss? It certainly wasn’t the carpeting in her office.

Three sentences. Two texture words. We intuit that Clanton is confused, and we can assume she’s in a forest. Or is she?

Jens rubbed the threadbare tweed sleeve of his jacket. Although his hand hitched over the knife strapped beneath, he hoped no one would notice his keen messenger of justice.

Why is Jens wearing a threadbare jacket? To whom will he administer justice, and why? Keen could apply to his fervor as well as the sharpness of the knife.

Vary Your Style Occasionally to Lead With Texture

Do you always describe how something looks and then follow with everything else?

Why?

Whenever you write descriptions, imagine how a blind person perceives the world. A well-chosen texture adjective will invigorate your words.

Everything touchable has texture. Pick up a tin-can lid, a paper towel, or a cutting board. Each has a unique surface, distinguishable with closed eyes.

Smooth describes texture, but smooth objects have distinct surfaces. Consider the variations between a tin can, a plastic jar, and a water glass. You could describe all three as smooth, but your fingers will discern the difference.

Instead of smooth, consider:

• tinny, plastic, glassy
• metallic, flexible, glossy
• rusty, slick, glazed

Each adjective carries a different connotation.

The Body Senses Texture in Multiple Ways

• Feet will feel the wooden slats of a swaying footbridge, the give of snowshoes in fluffy snow, or the chafing of a rock in one’s shoe.
• The entire body will sense vibrations when a vehicle shimmies across the steel deck of a bridge.
• Pine needles on the forest floor might lodge in socks and pants, causing prickly tingles.
• Burrs will stick to clothing and hair, irritating wherever they touch skin.
• Tongues are adept at analyzing food textures and detecting goosebumps on a lover’s neck. Speaking of lovers, have you ever worn silk underwear or slept in satin sheets? How would you describe the experience?

Consider These Avenues for Adding Texture

Warning: You might find a few story prompts and plot twists in the following list.

• knees grating over gravel, splintered boards, or desiccated bones
• heels rubbing against ankle cuffs or rough ridges in shoes
• bare elbows contacting with people in a crowd or zombies on the prowl
• nose or buttocks reacting to cheap tissues or toilet paper
• chin chafing against a muzzle or rough wool scarf
• ears irritated by a scratchy hatband, collar, or blindfold
• cheeks bumpy after an overnight stint sleeping on the couch
• back aching because of a lumpy mattress or a long ride in a trunk
• wrists raw from rubbing against handcuffs or rope restraints
• thighs covered with red welts from stinging nettle
• legs brushing by a pet, bush, or hanging corpse
• fingernails broken after scouring dried blood from the floor
• fingers gooey from scraping bubblegum off a chandelier
• fingertips freezing while scratching frost off a car window
• lips brittle and split from days in the desert or at sea
• eyes gritty with debris dislodged by helicopter blades

Texture surrounds us. It deserves a prominent place in your writing.

Do You Have an Inventive Mind?

Shakespeare coined many words in common use. From his pen came adjectives such as caked, gnarled, and lustrous. You’ve probably used at least one of his words today.

Add –able, -al, -est, -esque, -free, -ful, -ible, -ic, -ish, -ive, -less, -like, -oid, -ous, and other suffixes to nouns and verbs to create new adjectives.

Let’s consider angora, asphalt, and concrete. We’re already familiar with their texture. Angoraful could describe a baby’s hair. Asphaltous might be appropriate for whisker stubble. Concretesque would be an excellent description for a fitness trainer’s abs.

Better yet, combine words. Smog is a combination of smoke and fog. Brexit was formed by joining British and exit. Chortle is a merging of chuckle and snort.

Your creativity is your only limit.

Ready for the Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious list?

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious is another invented adjective so well-known that it didn’t trigger a warning from my spell checker.

The following table presents over 400 texture adjectives. Use them as is or try combining a few. How about ticklehairy, bristlehatched, or gummysoft, for example?

See also the Complexion/Texture list from 300+ Words to Describe Skin.

A and B
abrasive, adhesive, alligator-like, asymmetrical, bald, barbed, barnacled, bearded, blemished, blistered, braided, bristly, brittle, broken, bubbled, bubbly, buffed, bumpy, bunched, burnished, burred, bushy, buttery

C
caked, calcified, cardboard-like, carved, chafed, chafing, chalky, channeled, chaotic, chipped, chiseled, cleft, clotted, clumped, coagulated, coarse, cobbled, concave, concrete, congealed, convex, corduroy, corroded, corrugated, cottony, cracked, cracking, cratered, creamy, creased, crenelated, crepe-like, crimped, crinkled, crisp, crispy, crocheted, crocodilian, crooked, crosshatched, crude, crumbly, crumpled, crushed, crusty, crystalline, cushioned, cushiony, cutting

D and E
damaged, delicate, dense, dented, depressed, diaphanous, dinted, distorted, doughy, downy, drooping, ductile, dull, edged, elastic, emblazoned, embossed, embroidered, enameled, encrusted, engraved, entwined, erupted, etched, even

F
feathery, felt, festered, fibrous, filamented, filigreed, filmy, fine, firm, fissured, flabby, flaccid, flaky, flat, flattened, flawed, flawless, fleecy, fleshy, flexible, flinty, flocculent, floppy, fluffy, fluted, foamy, folded, friable, frilled, frilly, frozen, furred, furrowed, furry, fuzzy

G and H
gathered, gauzy, gelatinous, gelled, glassy, glazed, glossy, glutinous, gnarled, gnarly, gooey, gouged, grainy, granular, granulated, grating, gravelly, greasy, gristly, gritty, grooved, gummy, hairless, hairy, hard, harsh, hatched, hempen, hirsute, holey, honeycombed, hooked, horned

I
ice-covered, impenetrable, imperfect, imprecise, imprinted, incised, incrusted, indented, inelastic, inflexible, inlaid, inscribed, inset, interlaced, interlocked, intertwined, interwoven, intricate, ironed, irregular, itchy

J to L
jacquard-woven, jagged, jellied, jumbled, keen, knitted, knobbly, knobby, knotted, knotty, laced, lacy, latticed, layered, leathery, level, limp, lined, linen, liquid, lizard-like, lumpy

M to O
malleable, marked, marred, matte, meshed, metallic, mirror-smooth, misshapen, molten, mosaic, mushy, mutilated, nappy, needlelike, neoprene-covered, nicked, nodular, notched, nubby, oily, ossified, overlaid

P
padded, papery, parchment-thin, patchy, patinated, patterned, paved, pebbled, pebbly, peeling, petrified, pillowy, pinked, pitted, plaited, plastered, plastic, pleated, pliable, pliant, plumose, plumy, pocked, pockmarked, pointed, polished, porous, potholed, powdery, pressed, prickly, printed, protuberant, puckered, puffy, pulpy

Q and R
quilled, quilted, ragged, rasped, razor-sharp, regular, reptilian, ribbed, rich, ridged, rigid, rocky, rough, rubbery, rucked, ruffled, rumpled, runneled, rusty, rutted

Sa to Sl
sandy, satiny, scalloped, scaly, scarred, scooped, scored, scraped, scratched, scratchy, scrunched, sculpted, sculptured, serpentine, serrated, set-in, shaggy, sharp, sharp edged, shaved, shingled, shirred, shorn, shredded, shriveled, silken, silky, sleek, slick, slimy, slippery, slit

Sm to Sy
smooth, snarled, soapy, soft, soggy, solid, spiked, spiny, splintered, split, spongy, springy, squashy, squidgy, squishy, stamped, steely, stiff, stitched, stony, straw-like, streaked, stretchy, stringy, stubbly, stuccoed, studded, stuffed, supple, suppurated, syrupy

T to V
tacky, tarnished, taut, tensile, terrycloth-draped, tessellated, thick, thin, thorny, threadlike, tickling, tickly, tinny, tooled, toothed, toothy, tough, tufted, tweedy, twilled, twisted, unblemished, undulating, uneven, uniform, unshaven, unshorn, unyielding, upholstered, varnished, veined, veinous, velvety, veneered, viscid, viscous

W to Y
wadded, waffled, warped, washboard, watery, wavy, waxen, waxy, weather beaten, webbed, well-defined, well-honed, whiskery, wilted, wiry, withered, wizened, wooden, woody, woolen, woolly, worsted, woven, wrinkled, yielding