Observation


"A writer is someone who pays attention to the world."
-Susan Sontag
The best way to become a great writer?

Read, observe, write.

 Repeat for the rest of your life.

 What things in your life can you observe? 
Can you notice new things about them every day?
©Emmeline Chock
"I believe in evidence. I believe in observation, measurement, and reasoning, confirmed by independent observers."-Isaac Asimov

"For writers it is said that the first twenty years contain the whole of experience—the rest is observation."-Graham Greene

I'd sit for hours watching the birds or squirrels, or looking into the faces of flowers. When I discovered a new plant, I sat beside it for a minute or a day, to make its acquaintance and try to hear what it had to tell me." -John Muir


Some observation and writing links:
Observe nature like John Muir
The power of observation
Observation & creative writing
Observation & writing touchstones
From observation to imagination
Creative language & observation
Joyce Carol Oates & observation

Observational notebooks & writing


Books:Writers-Eye-Observation-Inspiration-Creative
Essays-I-Lydia-Davis

Look around you. Feel the wind, smell the air. Listen to the birds, and watch the sky. Tell me what is happening in the wide world." -Nancy Farmer

In pale moonlight
The wisteria's scent
Comes from far away 

-Yosa Buson
Image by Beverly Buckley from Pixabay 
butterfly wisteria
Image by 272447 from Pixabay 
hummingbird with flower
Image by toshib-fit99 from Pixabay 
wisteria at night

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