Do you want to capture the nature of the smell or the overall quality? Do you want your reader or listener to recognize an unfamiliar smell based on your description? Do you want to evoke a certain meaning or feeling in your reader?

Remove distractions. Don’t smoke or wear fragrances or drink strongly scented beverages. Take breaks. The sense of smell acclimates or becomes accustomed to a smell. Remove the smell or remove yourself from the smell for a while if you stop being able to smell it or smell it distinctly.

Smell origins may take the form of a noun (the smell of leather) or an adjective (a leathery smell). The adjective may describe the effect where the noun describes a specific source. Use imaginative adjectives. Saying that a vile smell was “like sucking puss out of a festered wound” does not actually describe the smell as such, but pulls on so many different thoughts and memories that the mind races to label it odious.

Be specific. Smoke smells different depending on its source. Can you tell the difference between smoke from a campfire and a wildfire? Between cigarette, cigar or pipe smoke? Could you recognize burning rubber or a vehicle that was burning oil purely by the smell of it? {“smallUrl”:“https://www. wikihow. com/images/thumb/c/c9/Jasmine-flowers-190605-kpjas-547. jpg/460px-Jasmine-flowers-190605-kpjas-547. jpg”,“bigUrl”:"/images/thumb/c/c9/Jasmine-flowers-190605-kpjas-547. jpg/728px-Jasmine-flowers-190605-kpjas-547. jpg",“smallWidth”:460,“smallHeight”:345,“bigWidth”:728,“bigHeight”:546,“licensing”:"<div class="mw-parser-output">

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Use verbs for the smells themselves. Smells can waft, distract, hint, permeate, suggest, confuse, conjure images, command attention, or intrude upon the consciousness. Use verbs to describe the source of the smell. Here are some actions that you might associate with smells: baking, frying, digging, sweating, burning, rotting. Visualize what the smell does. Does it creep into your nose? Wrap around you? Follow you? Bombard your nostrils?

Sight. Can a smell be bright or dark? Can a smell be pink or green? Can it be clear or hazy? Can it be fast? Slow? Sluggish? Smooth? Sound. Can a smell be dissonant? Harmonious? Loud or quiet? Touch. Can a smell be sharp or dull? Even or jagged? Smooth or rough? Heavy or light? Cool or hot? How would you physically react to the smell? Would you relax or stiffen, pucker, or make a face? {“smallUrl”:“https://www. wikihow. com/images/thumb/b/be/Mint-leaves-1508. jpg/460px-Mint-leaves-1508. jpg”,“bigUrl”:"/images/thumb/b/be/Mint-leaves-1508. jpg/728px-Mint-leaves-1508. jpg",“smallWidth”:460,“smallHeight”:307,“bigWidth”:728,“bigHeight”:486,“licensing”:"<div class="mw-parser-output">

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\n</p></div>"} Taste. Smell is closely associated with taste, so tastes are a good choice if they fit. Is a smell sweet or sour, salty or bitter? Is it chocolaty, fruity, or yeasty?

Is the smell startling or jarring? Soothing or comforting? Earthy or natural? Chemical or antiseptic? Smell is often strongly associated with memories, but this is only useful if you’re describing the smell to yourself (such as in a journal) since you can’t know what somebody smelled in their memories.