On Feb. 28, 2014 authors Christine Haggerty, Angela Hartley, and I held two creative writing workshops at Uintah High School in Vernal, UT. I talked about being an author and building craft skills and Angela gave a presentation about the power of synesthesia in writing. Synesthesia mixes the experiences of senses in powerful ways like tasting green or hearing chocolate. Angela then showed the students this image and asked them to write about it. Below are a few excerpts. For more examples, please see Christine or Angela‘s blog.

The fog descended through the trees tasting like soapy water. ~ Nichole

It was early morning and Samantha was already out running through the woods. ~Jeff

I bit my lips. They tasted sweet like the blossoms of the bush next to the road. ~Brianne

The sounds of a car and dogs behind him. Chester ran faster. He could almost feel the yelling coming from the ranch director. He was not going back to that place. ~Dalton

It had been weeks since Kasanalea had seen another person. ~Aspynn

Just as she began to feel the suffocating effects of the fog closing in, salvation came. ~ Jesse

As the sun finally began to rise, Kim breathed a sigh of relief. ~ Harmony

“I thought you said we would be safe here,” she accused. ~ Stacia

I was standing in the fog. Dark. Cold. I couldn’t see anything, but I could hear something. I shouldn’t be out this late. ~ Trestyn

Out of breath, my muscles aching. I sucked in the crisp morning air as I ran faster into the light. ~ Jaeley

Leaves scattered out of the way as we sped down the pavement. ~ Paige