by Kimberly A. Cook (Twitter@ WarriorTales)
Spring is my favorite season, but it’s not here yet. Duh. Cleaning up the dead leaves in my backyard bulb box on Sunday, guess what surprises were lurking underneath? Bulb shoots! Very exciting. Spring will return again. I raced inside, grabbed the camera and snapped a few quick pictures before watching the Super Bowl.
Writers must watch for and use details in all our prose. Small things make big impacts in stories. In life as in writing, small gestures count. Seeing bulbs break through to herald Spring, hearing a frog croak for the first time and the returning birds flit in the bushes all let readers know winter is coming to an end.
It is very easy with our busy lives and tendency to plug ourselves into tech things to stop observing our environment. What we do in real life transfers to our writing with both good and bad consequences.
Remind yourself to be a writing detective every day while you go about your adventures. Take time to observe and breathe in the sights, sounds, smells, taste and touch of your world. If we bring our observations to our writing we will carry our readers with us on magic journeys of heart and mind.
In Elizabeth Berg’s book, “Escaping Into The Open: The Art Of Writing True,” she has a great line about what is takes to be a good artist. “As a writer, you should have a sticky soul; the act of continually taking things in should be as much a part of you as your hair color.”
Today while we venture out into our day, look for clues and everyday magic moments to fill our creative notebooks. Like bulbs reaching up through the dirt, let’s all work on our sticky souls.
Oh boy, this is what I needed to pull my head out of its writing instructor funk. Time to grab the dog and go for a walk. Thanks, Kim!
The sight of bulbs pushing through our wet, soggy soil, gives me hope that Spring is truly around the corner!
Yes! We CAN make it!