I cannot walk through the suburbs in the solitude of the night without thinking that the night pleases us because it suppresses idle details, just as our memory does. ~Jorge Luis Borges
You walk the same way every time but do you notice the details? It’s the ability to write the details that makes for an interesting character, scene, essay or poem. Today spend at least 15 minutes running an errand or walking your normal route but this time when you get back to your notebook or computer try to write down at least 20 details you never noticed before. This is just an example from my journal.
- 1/2 pint of grape tomatoes underneath a silver Subaru on Wasatch Street
- the bald mailman wears purple latex gloves to deliver the mail
- honeysuckle and lilacs and the smell of the sun burning into the concrete
- a mass of poppy buds that look like fly heads surround a pile of garbage, a bag of Oreo’s, a sandwich and broken green bottles
- a blue heron nest on the pinon tree
Next take your list of details and work them into a short story, short essay or poem. Now get back to work!
The Writing Nag
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