Observations

Observing things is the way of a writer. Seeing things others might discount or just miss. For instance, the other day I saw a man walking. No big deal, right? But it was raining. And cold. He was wearing a jacket, beach length pants, flip flops and was carrying a half gallon of ice cream. Not coming from a store, not waiting for a bus, just walking. I wondered why.

Coming down the hill to my house, I saw three men pushing an upright grand piano, on a dolly, across the street. Only they were trying to get to the next street, which was up the hill. The piano was in the middle of the lane, and they were not really in control. I wondered what would have happened has the four wheels of the dolly decided to line up in a downhill position. Would the three men have been able to stop an upright grand piano from taking an unauthorized trip?

I saw a man in a parking lot, looking mystified and a little upset. He was whistling and calling for his dog. Both doors on his car were open, and the dog was nowhere in sight. He finally grabbed his cell phone and started towards the store. The door opened, and there was his dog, being ushered outside by the store's employees. Had they called the man on his phone to let him know his dog was shopping without him? Whose credit card was "Buster" using and what did he want at that store?

My little dog, weighing in at less than 8 lbs, and standing only about 8 inches at the shoulder, suddenly disappeared from my yard. I had just looked at him, told him to get off the wood pile. I finished drying the other dog, and Jax was gone. I called and whistled, and yelled and panicked. I ran out into the street, looking and calling. I heard him bark. For some reason, he had climbed the wood pile and jumped a 6 foot fence. Why? What was he thinking? Did he contemplate the 6 foot drop on the other side? Why did he even want to get over there? Enough to do it again, necessitating a long day moving the wood away from the fence.

I also notice little things, like frost on moss. Or a frozen rose. Noticing little things helps with all sorts of artistic endeavors. It may never show up exactly like this in a novel, but the more you notice, the more depth anything you create will have.