Be A Collector
Writers are a separate species. We collect people. We collect places. We collect sounds and smells. We collect turns of phrase. We collect tidbits of human emotions, dramas and traumas, the best and the worst of life on planet earth.
You could say we ”professionally” people-watch and eavesdrop, then weave together what we see, what we hear, and what we think. These colorful ribbons from our own personal experiences and our observations of others and of the world braid together with brand-new creations twining from our imaginations, hopefully making a tapestry that captures a reader’s attention and comes alive on the page.
But there’s one small problem with collecting. If you don’t write it down, it’s often lost. You think you’ll remember, but you don’t.
So how can you keep track?
Many writers keep notebooks or index card boxes or spreadsheets, separated into categories like setting details or character quirks they happen to observe. Some writers go as far as recording ideas for something into hand-held devices to later transcribe into their writing. Some writers journal every day, using those pages as diving boards for the rest of their writing.
I am a filer. This isn’t such a stretch, if I tell you I used to be an executive secretary for the president and staff of a small company. It’s my nature to organize and separate. Often when I’m reading a magazine or the newspaper, I tear out or cut out items that I file away into file folders of in-progress projects or even for pieces I’ve already published. Why? If I own rights to something and want to re-sell it, I might update it with the fresh info. Once I’m aware of a topic, it’s amazing how many times I see something related to it. I always make sure to get the date/publication info, including the page number and issue. I’ve learned from past experience how often copy editors need to verify a source. You don’t want to look foolish if your source list isn’t complete.
Look around. What do you see? What do you hear? What do you smell? How did that feel? How did that taste?
Don’t waste those experiences. Collect them.
Add comment July 19th, 2010
