The Smell of 1978

Here are today’s Wonderful Words:

“I pulled off the highway and checked into a threadbare hotel, part of a once-proud chain that had gone to seed. My room smelled like 1978. The torn bedspread was the color of mustard left on a plate overnight. The bed sagged and the toilet sported a complimentary pubic hair.”

Blue Fairways, Charles Slack

Background

Blue Fairways is the classic American travelog with a golfing spin. Sometime in the mid nineties, Charlie Slack quit his job as a newspaper reporter and set out on a golfing expedition down the east coast of the United States. With his wife and young child at home, Slack—a mediocre golfer—spent several months sleeping in motels and hacking his way across the muni courses of the Eastern US. Blue Fairways is the story of his journey.

What makes it wonderful?

This passage leapt off the page and smacked me in the face.

A room can’t smell like 1978, but I knew exactly what he meant. I instantly imagined the old fleabag motel I stayed in with my Dad and brother on a hiking trip more than a decade ago. Ours didn’t have the mustard bedspread or the complimentary pubic hairs, but it definitely smelled like 1978. I remember waking up eye to eye with some type of critter that I still tell myself wasn’t a bed bug.

The writing is wonderful because it paints a picture before our eyes. If you’ve lived a life like me, it evokes a memory of a similar experience. If you’ve been lucky enough to avoid such a motel, Slack still makes you feel like you were there.

Let's get technical

From a technical standpoint, Slack uses imagery to show us what the average author would tell us. Imagery is a vivid description that appeals to your senses to evoke a picture or a feeling.

The bedspread wasn’t an ugly yellow. It was the color of mustard left on a plate overnight. He never said the word yellow, but you imagined the crusty, tangy, dark brownish yellow you’ve seen on your dirty dishes.

The bathroom wasn’t dirty. It sported a complimentary pubic hair. Nothing says disgusting like the image of somebody else's pubes on the toilet you have to use.

The room wasn’t stinky. It smelled like 1978. I don’t know what 1978 smells like, but if I had to guess, I’d say it’s something like dank shag carpets and sweaty hippies.

So the next time you want to set the scene for your readers, imagine how Slack would describe it. The colors aren’t ugly. The bathrooms aren’t dirty. The rooms aren’t stinky. You can do better than that.

Happy writing,

Joe