Workshop Two

Last week we looked at where inspiration comes from. I suggested that:

OBSERVATION + IMAGINATION = INSPIRATION

Which is something someone told me many years ago.  This week, we’re going to think about OBSERVATION and ways to use our powers of observation to improve our writing.

Some writers carry a pen and notepad with them at all times, others scribble notes in their minds and jot them down fully later. Smartphones and iPads have note-taking apps that can email a note directly to your inbox.  All of this to say that one of the best things I think you can do for your writing, especially when it comes to generating new ideas, is to make note of everything that interests you.

One of my favourite note-taking exercises is to go and listen to someone’s conversation and write it down. The other day, I heard someone say, “She didn’t know what was wrong until she licked him.”  I wanted to hear more but the two women having the conversation drifted out of earshot and I was left with my imagination stirred and the inspiration for several stories sparking in my brain.  Now, I know it can feel a little awkward or even creepy to eavesdrop, so I try not to be obvious about it. One of the things about being a writer is that it is your job to notice the world around you and to draw from that experience.  I try and tell myself that someone would be flattered if they knew I was inspired by a snatch of their conversation and then I get on with writing things down.

Another way to observe the world is to step outside and make notes about the weather. You might think that a sunny day is really easy to describe, but if you actually go outside and write the words to capture that sunny day on the page you’ll find you steer away from cliché and start truly describing how the sun feels on your skin, how the air tastes, and so on.

Sitting in a café and people-watching is a fine way to spend time as a writer. Someone will catch your imagination, and then the art is to truly describe what they look like, how they hold themselves, what they are wearing or carrying.  These sorts of notes will come in helpful when you least expect it.

So, one way to observe is to look out at the world around you. Another way is to read – read novels, poems, stories, other work by Wattpad writers, plays, non-fiction, blogs. If you want to travel to the other side of the world but you can’t afford the plane ticket, find a book that takes you there. There is no reason for you to feel inhibited writing about anything – if you don’t know something, teach yourself so you can tell the stories you want to tell.  I don’t believe that writers should only ‘write what they know’.  My belief is that the imagination is a powerful tool and with it, we can take ourselves as writers anywhere. One of my main rules for my daily writing life is to read 50 pages a day. Not write a certain number of pages a day because I know that will follow from enriching my imagination with reading.

Observe by going to art galleries and letting the paintings there inspire you.

Observe by watching movies and letting the narrative within take your ideas to a new level.

Observe by travelling – if you can’t leave your home-town, go to a new café or walk a different way to school, there are many ways to give yourself a new perspective on your environment.

Observe by interviewing someone and discovering their story.

Observe by finding out something you never knew before online.

This week’s writing prompt:

Observe your neighborhood. Make notes from your front doorstep for at least five minutes.

Either – write up to 300 words of the opening of a story set outside your front door (use your observations!)

Or – write a poem made up of words that you’ve written in your doorstep notes.