Field Guides

“One of the gifts of being a writer is that it gives you an excuse to do things, to go places and explore. Another is that writing motivates you to look closely at life, at life as it lurches by and tramps around.”—Anne Lamott

Today’s writing exercise is this gift—go someplace and look closely at life with your project in mind. This could be as simple as a trip to the post office, or to your friendly neighborhood dive bar. If feasible, go to a setting that appears in your work. How would your character approach this task? What would they notice about this place, these people?

Pay attention to the small details—the smells, how the man perches on the corner stool, the light filtering through the trees at this time of day, or the ways people wait in line. These are the details that can make your work—be it novel or historical treatise—vivid. Observe how each person navigates the space. Notice, as Lamott suggests, if they wander “the aisles of [their] supermarkets with glints of madness in their eyes.”

This habit of recording observations can be a mainstay of your writing practice. Stockpile these nuggets of overheard conversation, quotidian scenes and spectacles. Who knows when you might need one?