 Action/Adventure: January 16, 2008 Issue [#2173] |
  Action/Adventure
This week: Edited by: W.D.Wilcox  
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"When nothing else subsists from the past, after people are dead, after things are broken and scattered, the smell and taste of things remain poised a long time; like souls bearing resiliently on tiny and almost impalpable drops of essence, therein lies the immense edifice of memory."
-Marcel Proust "The Remembrance of Things Past"
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THE OVERLOOKED SENSE
Very often as writers, we overlook the sense of smell. It's a shame really, because it is perfect for ‘character flashbacks’ and/or 'segues' into your character’s past. If you explore it, you'll discover that the sense of smell is a wonderfully mysterious olfactory system that can enable you and your characters to tap into the inner regions of your subconscious mind.
For example, just last week when I was in Seattle, there was this great smell coming out of this restaurant, and right when I smelled it, it brought back memories of something that had happened to me years ago. On another occasion, this perfume a girl was wearing brought back a recollection of a girlfriend I had had in high school. Of all the senses, I would say that smell is the sense that is best at bringing back memories. When you smell a certain scent it feels as though you slipped back in time and that you are actually at that scene again. If it was not for the other senses of your body, you might really feel as though you are back there again. But why is it that smell has this ability to instantaneously trigger memories of events, places or people that you usually would not 'think' of?
Despite our belief that sight and hearing are the two most important senses to our survival, from an evolutionary perspective, smell is actually one of the most important senses. To recognize food or to detect poison, smell is the sense that almost all other mammals use. Dogs are probably the most obvious example of this; it is through the use of the olfactory system that animals are able to find food, reproduce, and even communicate.
Humans have 1000 different sensors in their nose and can identify about 10,000 odors. This is because odors are molecular, so the method used is different from light or sound that comes in waves.
You have to realize that inside your nose, about the level of your eyes, is a small patch of tissue containing millions of nerve cells. The odor receptors (sensors) lie on these nerve cells. Each of the receptors recognizes several odors, and likewise a single odor could be recognized by several receptors. Thus similar to codes, what happens is that different combinations of the 1,000 receptors result in our ability to identify 10,000 different odors. An important quality of the olfactory system is that information travels both to the limbic system and cortex. The limbic system is the primitive part of the brain that includes areas that control emotions, memory and behavior.
If people can identify 10,000 different smells, how many smells can you name off the top of your head? In comparison, look at how many colors there are in a crayon box, or the many varieties of music existing. This lack of understanding and appreciation of odors is a result of our over reliance on our eyes and ears, even to the extent that we suppress our awareness of what our nose tells us. Our underestimation of the role of smell results in our lack of extensive knowledge concerning many aspects of the olfactory system.
Remember, smell has such a strong power to vividly bring back memories, it is definitely more important than we realize. To a large extent, smell is more personal than other senses so it brings back memories of people, not just places, or things. Plus, memories associated with odors seem to be more emotionally loaded. There is evidence that smell can influence mood, memory, emotions, mate choice, the immune system and the endocrine system (hormones). We can even communicate by smell - without knowing it.
My point here is to make you understand that if the sense of smell is so important to our survival and memories, then why don’t we, as writers, use it more often?
Until next time,
billwilcox
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THE CHOSEN
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Topic: 'The Call To Adventure'...Talk Amongst Yourselves
keeshlon
Submitted Comment:
"The 'Call to Adventure' is the first stage of the mythological journey. The hero starts off in a mundane situation of normality from which some information is received that acts as a clarion call to down tools, take up sword (literally or figuratively) and head off into the unknown. It signifies that destiny has summoned the hero from within the pale of his society to be chosen because he is somehow different. He must put aside all that has been foreseen, all that has been devised, all that has been constructed, and then set off walking into unfamiliar territory."
The above paragraph from your newsletter describes my character in "Ami" perfectly. She's always out for adventure, often finding more than she can handle.
Thanks for this encouraging newsletter.
-Keeshlon
Cyanvia 
Submitted Comment:
Hmm... I can't control my curiousity, so the 'Call to Adventure' is pretty familiar to me. Every time I pass a mountain, forest, town or even some unknown office building, I will get the urge to enter and explore it. Anyway, this Newsletter was very interesting!
larryp
Submitted Comment:
Bill,
A very inspirational newsletter - the call to adventure - the call to be a risk-taker. I was caught up in your newsletter as if I were reading a story. I like the closing challenge to adventure writers. Good newsletter.
-Larry
StephBee 
Submitted Comment:
Bill, your newsletter, "The Call to Adventure," was very inspiring. I think that's a great premise to start off an action/adventure novel. Thanks for sharing!
Lumix de Luminous
Submitted Comment:
This is a very motivational piece. I am writing an adventure/fantasy at the moment and now I have new aces up my sleeves.
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