Develop A Writer's Eye

I think this is a rather fascinating photo, no words, just the hand holding a rose and what look like cloud formations. Do you ever raise your head to the sky and note that some clouds appear to be objects, animals, etc? Perhaps we all did it as children and continue as adults. 

The clouds here reminded me that we writers need to gaze with a writer's eye. Just by the nature of who we are, we should see more than the average person. Creative minds will be more imaginative when observing clouds. Or anything else.

What do you see in today's photo? I see a slender, feminine hand holding a beautiful red rose. Who, I wonder, presented it to her and for what reason. Why is she in the clouds? I see the North Wind wearing sunglasses ready to blow a chill across the Midwestern Plains. I see another face, but only the eyes, the rest of the face being masked. I see the bottom half of a nude woman's backside. I see a bat peering down to earth. I see mountains. Could  I write a story about all those images that my mind perceived? Probably. 

How about you? After you study the photo for a while, what do you see? What is the significance of the hand holding the rose? In the clouds. Or, are they clouds? Might they be something else? This is a marvelous photo to use for a writing exercise. 

Do you work at using your writer's eye as you go about your daily tasks? If you don't, you should. We've all heard that there is a story everywhere. True, but you have to be able to see it.

Try looking at and studying the people you see in the grocery store. Each one of them has a story, but you can use your writer's eye and create one. Take note of the little actions they make, things that might be habitual. Does that woman always brush her hair off her forehead? Why? What about the man who constantly clears his throat? Sick, allergies, or just a habit? Observing people can be a great help in creating characters in fiction writing. 

Driving down a busy street is another good place to use your writer's eye. Observe the many different cars and the people who drive them, as well as the way they drive. Do this only if you can do so and pay attention to your own driving. 

You can work on training your writer's eye at sporting events, a concert, or a parade. The important thing is to work on it consistently. 

Finding Stories When You Travel

We were out of town for six days last week. Two of those days were spent in airports and on planes. Long days but interesting, to be sure. The remaining days were spent in Florida with friends, and a grand time was had by all.

But back to the airports and planes--On travel days like this, we spend hours getting to the airport, checking in, then waiting at the gate area. More time on the airplane itself. We had to connect both coming and going, once in Atlanta and Baltimore on the return trip. On those two busy days, we were around a myriad number of people. Some were polite, some very friendly, a few rather rude. 

The writer in me looked at each of those people wondering what kind of story they had. Where had they come from? Where were they going? What kind of life did they lead? Who was important to them? Were they happy, depressed, angry, eager, anxious, or just plain numb? 

About ten men wearing Green Bay Packers shirts, jackets and caps were on our plane headed to Kansas City. Surely they were going to the Chefs-Packers game. But why were they getting on the plane in Baltimore? I would have loved to know the story.

A young man using crutches, clutching a tiny plastic bag such as you'd get in a store when shopping, sat across from me on one plane. Sadness showed in his eyes, and he held tightly to that small bag throughout the flight. What was his story? I wondered during the entire flight. 

A lovely young woman with a beautiful toddler daughter caught my eye in one airport. Both mother and child were beautifully dressed. Then I noticed the mother had a tattoo of a snake that wrapped around her arm from forearm to shoulder. Definitely a story there. But what was it? 

The point is that there are thousands of stories around us when we travel. Engage a fellow traveler in conversation, and you'll learn some of his/her story. Some of what you hear can be something to put into a fiction story. Other things could be the start of a personal essay. 

We flew Southwest on this trip, and nearly every employee we encountered was friendly, helpful, polite and seemed to be enjoying what they did for a living. Granted, the airlines all want travelers to have a good experience so they'll choose that airline again sometime. Even so, I felt a genuine sense of satisfaction among the employees we encountered. Every one of them had a story. I wish I could have heard those stories. I'm sure many would be most interesting.

Travel essays usually involve the destination spot you headed for. But why not write a personal essay on the actual travel experience, whether it be by bus, train, plane, ship or your own car.         

Do you have a family story to write that involves the time someone traveled by one of the methods above? 

The next time you travel, use your writer's eye and observe the people who work on the train or plane or whatever conveyance it might be. Look carefully at your fellow travelers. The stories are there. It's up to you to find them.