“patterns in the pebbles” by devi laskar

Want to strike a match and light that flame that leads to writing more consistently? Look around you! The great poet Kim Addonizio has a wonderful little exercise that I highly recommend: three observations.

Making a mental note of three things, that you may or may not use later, but that you should try to use. She of course uses her golden observations for witty and often stinging poetry, but this exercise can just as easily be translated by those who are writing prose.

While you’re waiting in line the grocery store, in car line at your kids’ school, at the consulate of a foreign government waiting to pick up a visa, look around. Notice the litter on the ground, and if you’re lucky, the person doing the littering. See if there is any great graffiti on the walls, or an ironic sign. What do you smell?

If you can do it inconspicuously, then jot it down on the back of the Kleenex in your pocket, or in the margins of the book you’re reading. Otherwise, juggle the three things in your head for the next five to ten minutes until you can be alone with your pen and pad of paper and write it down. Look, you’ve just written something.

Now use these observations to give your character or your setting some depth….. And you’re on your way!