Comments on: The Art Of Observation

By: Colette

Colette — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:09:54 +0000

I also went to massage school and have not practised in years, your explaination of it “clicking” is probably the best I have heard – that is exactly what it was like the first time you touched someone and knew just knew what they felt and where they hurt and what you could do to help them make it better.

By: CallyPendragon

CallyPendragon — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:23:53 +0000

Interesting post- but just to add a small piece:
I dont write. I am hard of hearing and i am an American Sign Language Interpreter and i find that my job also makes me “listen” in a different way.
Part of what i do is not only listening to the words people say, but how they say them and what they mean by them and their body language says it all! I have friends who write and are Deaf (both literally and culturally) and “listen” this way. I have often had it commented by teachers (i work in a local high school) that i not only interpret their words, but their body language and they find it interesting. Most interpreters dont go quite that far- but i work with bored teenagers *grin* i have to keep them awake somehow!
My point being that listening is more than a hearing function here- its a visual function as well. The best writers (i think) are the ones who give body language ques with their characters. It helps make them more clear.

By: Cora

Cora — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 03:58:46 +0000

Public transport is also excellent for people watching, though again this is more suitable for urban areas. It’s particularly good if you commute anyway. Besides, train stations or airports are places where you can sit around and watch people for a long time without attracting too much attention, because everybody there is waiting.

My approach is similar to AJ’s, since I sometimes try to put myself in the head of one of my characters and see life as they would. Or I take them along while I go shopping, to work, etc… and pretend to show them around like one would a tourist. Though by all means, don’t talk to them aloud.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 22:49:51 +0000

Natalie Goldberg in her Writing Down the Bones says the same thing about coffee shops. A little kindness goes a long way.

I understand Cat’s thing about looking down and paying “no one no mind” but I know that I try to do it while also being aware at the same time. I find it’s easier if you wear sunglasses and have earbuds in your ear. You don’t have to be listening, just having the earbuds in your ear makes people think your mind is elsewhere. It’s interesting what you’ll observe if you can see without looking.

By: Cat

Cat — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:40:08 +0000

Thank you Lilith and AJ, all good points and advice that I will definitely try. My opportunities for observation of people is a bit more limited living in the Badlands of North Dakota, but that just means I’ll have to sharpen my ears, develop better listening skills, for those times that I am around more people.

I also would like to thank Lilith for all her advice to young writers in general because its really helped and encouraged me. Often bringing up things that I had never considered before. The post about being “free to write crap for the first million words or so” was definitely liberating. So thanks for all the help and definitely keep up the Friday Writing Posts because they really do help!

By: AJ

AJ — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 18:51:21 +0000

All good points, and Cat, as a former urbanite now living in a small, rural town, there are still plenty of places to observe and interact with your human environment without being viewed as the town stalker. Local restaurants where the “regulars” hang out and gossip, fairs, flea markets and yard sales, even something as simple as a trip to Walmart (and what area of the country doesn’t have one of those?) can give you a plethora of stimulation. I observe and eavesdrop a lot while waiting in lines–at grocery stores, gas stations, convenience stores. It’s amazing the little snippets of conversation you can pick up in just a few minutes (sometimes providing you hours of fun trying to fill in the blanks)

I also have a little trick I’ve used for years (goes back to some of my own hanging-out-in-bad-areas-for-posterity days). I take walks around my little town everyday, trying to vary the route, thereby forcing myself to observe my surroundings (as opposed to walking the same route and putting it on autopilot). Here in the South, everyone has big front porches and they use them. They sit out and talk to their neighbors or on the phone, and I eavesdrop as I walk past, listening to the little old ladies talking to their friends or their kids or their yard men, but I take it one step further, especially if I’m working on a particularly difficult scene. I walk IN CHARACTER. That is, I take my walk as my character would, observing the world around me as they would. It’s amazing how putting yourself in someone else’s shoes (even if they are fictitious) can alter how you see and react to the smallest things. People around me would think I’m seriously deranged if they knew what goes on in my head when I walk past them, but I just see it as part of being a writer. It’s sort of like method acting, actually, and it really helps me to bring my characters to life.