Weekly Writing Exercise: Write What You See

From my book: Writing through the Fog

Write What You See

Wherever you are, look around and spend five or ten minutes writing down everything you notice. Is there a cracked bowl on the kitchen counter waiting to be mended? A stack of firewood beside the stove? Is the dog sleeping more than usual? Anything goes. Describe each thing in a way that piques your interest, in a way that would make you want to read more if you came across the description in a book. Do you like simple descriptions that leave much to the imagination, or do you prefer more elaboration and detail? Is the broken bowl simply a bowl, or does it suggest something more? Spend some time on this; don’t simply dash off a few descriptions and call it done. Look deeply.