Five Sense Memory Drill - Jacqui Brauman

One Memory, One Paragraph Per Sense

When we try to write from memory, we often reach first for meaning.

We explain what happened.
We summarise.
We interpret.

But memory doesn’t actually live in explanation.

It lives in the body.

The 5-Sense Memory Drill is a simple way to return to that embodied layer — the place where writing becomes textured and alive again.

It’s not about nostalgia.
It’s not about storytelling.
It’s about access.

Why This Works

Memory is rarely stored as a neat narrative. It’s stored as sensation.

A particular quality of light.
The sound of something closing.
The feeling of fabric against skin.
The smell of a room you haven’t entered in years.

When we approach memory through the senses, we bypass the part of the mind that wants to tidy everything up. We let the past arrive in fragments rather than conclusions.

And fragments are often more honest.

The Drill

Choose one specific memory. Not a whole season. Not an entire relationship. Just a single moment.

Then write five short paragraphs — one for each sense.

Paragraph 1: Sight
Describe only what could be seen. Colours. Movement. Distance. Light.

Paragraph 2: Sound
What could be heard? Even the smallest background noise.

Paragraph 3: Touch
Temperature. Texture. The feeling in your body.

Paragraph 4: Smell
Even if it seems insignificant — air, food, dust, perfume, rain.

Paragraph 5: Taste
Literal taste, or what lingered in your mouth.

There is one rule:
No interpretation. No explanation. No emotional summary.

Stay with sensation.

What Often Happens

At first, the exercise can feel mechanical.

Then something shifts.

The moment becomes more dimensional. More present. Sometimes more tender than expected.

And occasionally, an insight surfaces — not because you searched for it, but because the body remembered before the mind did.

This is why the drill works so well when writing feels flat or distant. It returns you to specificity.

Specificity is where writing breathes.

When to Use It

When you feel disconnected from a scene you’re drafting
When your writing feels overly abstract
When journalling has become repetitive
When you want to understand a memory without analysing it

It’s also surprisingly grounding during reflective seasons — year-end journalling, life transitions, or moments that feel emotionally layered.

A Gentle Invitation

If you’d like to try it now:

Choose a memory from this past year — something small.

Not the highlight. Not the hardest moment. Just something ordinary.

Write one paragraph per sense.

Then stop.

Notice what changed — not in the memory, but in your relationship to it.