Think!

Let's face it. We get lazy. We do the same things. We see the same people. We enjoy our little rut of routine. And while that may help you lead an orderly life it can be death to your writing. I love to teach writing. There is nothing like a class full of EXCITED writers! But one thing seems to crop up again and again. We only see things from our point of view. Now, don't get me wrong. We need to have our own, strong voice. But sometimes it's good to check from a different side. Hear from a group we rarely acknowledge. We must simply think in a new way. How do you do that? You become more objective. You step back and look at things from not just one different angle, but from as many sides as possible. And you get specific.

One of my favorite exersices for my class was to have them look at a picture of a war memorial. It was a classic picture of a guard walking his line in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. When I asked them to describe it for me as if I was blind they said, "It's a cemetary." "Oh, with lots of gravestones," I said. "No! It's just one. And there's a soldier." "Oh, you mean in fatigues?" "No, he's in a dress uniform and he's marching. It's a war memorial!" "Oh, like this!" I then pull out a picutre of the Vietnam Memorial. They shake their heads in disgust. But it gets the point across. It matters very much if there's a soldier. It matters if he's in dress uniform or smoking in fatigues. It matters if he's in front of iconic columns or in a deep trench cut out of the ground. All the details matter. Think about it.