Writers are (or should be) taught to notice things, to look deeper, to make up – and write down – whatever comes to mind and to see everything as a potential topic for a story. Preferably with a new twist, as I once read that everything has already been said; we just come up with new versions of it. I am an artist, too, and artists are also taught to look deeper, but with an eye to sight and feelings and connecting the two. So my brain is always trying to see everything as story-worthy or paint-worthy, and anything and nothing as something worth taking a deeper look at. Writers can be as creative and as inventive as they want! (Unless we are reporting the news; in which case, we do NOT want to make things up.)
Today I am having fun with a make-believe (possibly idiotic) topic. I will start by asking you if you have you ever wondered what smells, odors, aromas, fragrances, etc. would look like if we could see them? I have imagined it many times – so much that I will likely write it in a story someday. Think about it. Do you think rotting smells would be a moldy green in color and perfumes would be various lovely colors, depending on what ingredients are used, red for red roses, etc.? Would the colors be tinted or streaked with other colors if their scents were from different sources? Or would it have its own specific color of all the ingredients' smells combined? What about chemicals used to produce perfume – and so much more? Would they add a metallic look? Or a scary look? Would we be able to know which was healthy to use and which would not be? (This is positively book-worthy! I can feel another fantasy world coming on…)
What about foods? If they are fresh, would their smells have true spectrum colors, and would the smells gradually change color as they begin to spoil? (Would we be able to see anything in our refrigerator with all the colors vying for attention?!) Rotting food would have to be putrid greens or browns, maybe with some deep purple or red splotches. Wouldn’t that be awesome? No more food poisoning!
Let’s take flowers, because we love flowers. The brilliance and multitude of flower colors is astounding. The scent of lilacs in the spring would have to be purple, lavender or white. Purple for violets, yellow for daffodils, white for Lily of the Valley… Or would each flower’s fragrance have a different color from their visual color?
Does anyone think I am a little whacky yet?
I have envisioned trailing, swirling lines, as well as pungent fogs of colors emitting from bodies, garbage cans, animals... Let’s get down and dirty. Imagine someone next to you farts – okay, it may have been you – and it reeks; what color would you envision it as? The stinkier the fart, the uglier it would be, right? Or the brighter it would be? Hmmm…
How about vehicles, fires, or smokestacks? Pollution would have to be black or at least an icky gray. (No one could see to drive in LA!)
Then there are the special smells of puppies and babies and chocolate chip cookies baking. Sunshine yellows and whites, pale, bright colors that soothe and energize at the same time. Or rainbow colors? That’s what I imagine.
I think we can conclude that in my fantasy world of smells being visible, icky smells will look ugly and nice smells would look beautiful. It makes sense to my brain – and my nose.
I will leave you to have fun imagining visual smells on your own; let me know what you come up with.
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