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Writing Is Observing by Joshua Gray
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Writing Is Observing |
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Education
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Writers are, by nature, observers. How many times have I have seen or read the advice from non writers to writers: "Get out there. Live life. And then write about it." But observing is so much easier than "living," so we writers observe. It is our job, to observe, interpret, and report back to our readers. That is what we do. As I see it, observing can take two different forms: passive and active observing. PASSIVE OBSERVING With passive observing, you, the writer, go about your daily routine, pursuing goals, taking care of responsibilities, doing the laundry, catering to the needs of others. But every once in a while, something hits you as really interesting, and you record the information in your notebook (if you are smart), or you hope to remember it (which often does not happen) and write it down later. At any rate, that interesting bit of information can take many forms: * a bit of dialogue that is particularly telling (especially for fiction writers) * a complaint by a friend prompts your offer to help, and you realize that your solution would work for others, so that idea (the problem and solution) goes on your To Be Written list * seeing two different objects or events, putting them together in your own special way, and coming up with a great idea for a story, article, book, screenplay, or whatever you write * an article you read, a newscast you hear, a blog post you stumble across -- some bit of news or information sparks an idea for your own writing. And the list goes on and on. The sources for ideas are endless; all you have to do is be observant, make a few unexpected connections, and immediately write the idea down. One afternoon last week, I was listening to some recorded interviews about Spiritual Entrepreneurs, of which I consider myself one. And twice during those interviews, seemingly unrelated ideas hit me as to a series of blog posts I could do for writers. These two ideas immediately went on my Weekly Task List (my to do list for the week). Both of these series will take me months to research and write, so the ideas were big ones. ACTIVE OBSERVING The other way you can observe the world around you is to actively observe. Observe with purpose. Put yourself in a place and with time so that you can observe humanity. Go on a field trip. Go alone. Leave the kids and dog at home. Allow yourself the time and focus to really do your job as a writer: observe without distractions. Go to the mall and sit on a bench. Watch the people as they pass by you. Go to the Dining court and listen to the conversations. What are they laughing about, crying about, complaining about? Play "what if" games about their personalities, annoying habits, life triumphs, occupations, accomplishments, personal demons and childhood traumas. Remember to record your observations, insights, and ideas in your notebook. Make sure you have several working pens or pencils with you. Or take a laptop, notebook, or netbook with you, so you can type your insights instead of writing them out longhand. But definitely record your observations without being too obvious that you are eavesdropping or studying your subjects. When you return home, freewrite or brainstorm about your experiences. What deeper insights did you learn beyond the surface observations recorded in your notebook? What patterns did you detect that you had never seen before, or perhaps had noticed but now have confirmation and examples? I write a lot of instructional materials for writers, usually in the form of workbooks. These workbooks have exercises that offer sentences about all sorts of topics that need to be corrected or revised. I have found that if I stare out the window, the topics are fairly limited to the puffy or rain clouds (I live in Oregon now), the geese and ducks wandering by, the kids playing beyond my window. My imagination can come up with other topics, but that requires more effort -- that is the hard way. The easier way is to develop the exercises at night when I am watching television. Then I am confronted with so many images about so many topics that I cannot write the exercises fast enough. And I am productive during the silent (I am the fastest muter in the West) two or four minutes of commercials. I might see a commercial about a little girl looking into a store window and create an exercise sentence using that image as the base. A reader will not be able to identify the source of the sentence, but the television image has sparked an idea in my imagination, which has provided me with a sentence for the workbook. I have also found that when I am stuck with a piece of writing, whether fiction or nonfiction, watching television or movies (Movies are my preferred viewing medium.) will often jolt me out of my stuck place and provide me with an unrelated image that sparks a new idea to bring me out of my dilemma. I have also found that a quick nap can bring me out of my stuck place, but that is another post. Of course, rather than planting your butt in front of the television, you can go for a walk and observe nature or traffic; go to a park and observe the children at play; go on a field trip and observe the masses. Whatever you decide, do some Active Observing. Both of these methods of observing work well for writers, and each works at different times in your daily routine. Just remember that both are available to you, if you decide to take advantage of them. So go forth and observe! dissertation
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