I believe writers must be willing to step out of their comfort zone and into the world in order to write. If I, as a writer, can engage my senses and emotions, then I can engage my reader's as well. That often means trying things I’ve never done before. I like to experience as much of what I write about as I can before I sit down to write. That doesn’t mean I put myself or others in harm’s way, of course, and neither should you. But if I’m writing about fishing, then, hey, I go fishing.

In my workshops, I'll often give writers a somewhat weird and deceptively simple exercise: choose a safe experience, do it and then write about it! You might smell one of the spices in the spice rack. Or run your hand over every piece of material you can find in your house. Take your socks off and walk over the bristly rug at your front door. Go squish your toes in the mud as you did when you were little. Sit and really listen to the city or rural sounds outside. Go to the fridge and taste an olive. As I was writing my middle school novel, Iggy's World, about a quirky teen who likes bugs, I went to the Victoria Bug Zoo and held ginormous bugs. Talk about stepping outside my comfort zone!

Whatever the experience you choose, make sure it fully engages your senses, and take the time to really experience it. Meditate on what you felt or smelled or saw and jot notes about it in your journal. What memory does it elicit? What else is it like? Where does this scent take you? Sit with the experience and allow it to inspire you.

Then take whatever inspiration comes from that experience and write a passage of between 250 and 500 words. Just let it flow out of you. Write quickly and without hesitation for a good ten or fifteen minutes. Very often the writing inspired by this exercise is about a memory, as engaging our senses, particularly our sense of smell, brings up memories for us. But whatever you end up writing about, I think you might be surprised at how poetic and lovely your writing is, especially once you start to get into it. When you allow the world to fully engage your senses, you can fully engage your reader’s senses too.