As a kid I was an observer. I was shy, so in group situations you could usually find me off in a corner, eating whatever was available, watching the festivities.
Even back then I was adding to my compilation of observations, to be used later when I began writing. Of course I didn’t know it way back then; it wasn’t a conscious decision on my part; but today I can sure see how it all unfolded.
When my family would head off on a car trip/vacation, I would sit in the backseat, not reading a book but studying the passing landscapes, storing it all in my brain for future use.
I was reminded of that this past weekend when my wife and I went on a mini-vacation to see friends in Southern Oregon. It was about an eight-hour trip one-way, and most of the way Bev spent that time listening to music and playing with the puppy, while I observed everything we passed along the way.
I think writers are just wired differently. I was consciously thinking of certain sites and tucking them safely away until I need them in a new novel. That’s basically what I do every single day I’m out and about running errands . . . I’m observing! I even caught myself mentally writing some scenes for my latest novel while driving. I saw this great old mansion in Ashland, Oregon, and that mansion deserves a spot in the next novel.
I love everything about the writing process.
One of the people we visited on the trip asked me to explain how I write a particular scene. What process do I use as a scene unfolds, and I found it difficult to answer that question because it just happens, but it can only happen because of all the observations made over the span of my life.
Does that make sense?
If you’re a writer you are nodding your head right now.
We’re just wired a little bit differently.
Bill
“Helping writers to spread their wings and fly.”
Billybuc
Artistry With Words 