Perspective

The dictionary defines perspective as, "A particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view." In other words, it's all about how you look at things.

I took a photo of these awesome Douglas firs at Camp Yeomalt Park near my house. I happened to look up, and saw how the perspective of the trees was different from what I was used to. Although I'd walked past these trees dozens of times, I saw them in a new way. I had a new point of view.

Having a new perspective on an object that you see everyday can help your writing. It helps because you're learning how to really see, not simply walk past an object (or tree) because--ho, hum--it's part of your background.

Try this exercise on perspective. Find an object in your house that you see nearly everyday. Now change your perspective of it. If it's your refrigerator, lie on the floor and look up at it. If it's your baby photo, tip it upside down. If it's your toothbrush, hold it by the wrong end. If it's your kitchen clock on the wall, pull up a chair next to it (with an adult's permission) and look at it from an inch away.

What new things can you notice about everyday objects? That's the fresh perspective, or point of view, we want to bring to our writing.

Have fun looking at objects. And don't forget to look up at the trees.

A Rose Is A Rose...

I teach a class for adults called "Creativity for Writers." In this class, I encourage my students to have a "creativity date" each week.

What is a creativity date? It's one half hour you spend by yourself, either writing, drawing, listening to music, or doing something else creative. It's important that you do your creativity date by yourself. Why? When we're with our family and friends, we enjoy talking to them and goofing around. Nothing wrong with that. But when we're by ourselves and open to ideas, that's when the creative bug is most likely to bite.

Last week I went on a creativity date by myself. I biked to a neighborhood pond with my notebook. It's my creativity notebook, which has big white pages and no lines. I also brought a box of colored pencils.

I saw this flower and decided to draw it. I looked at the flower carefully and put in as much detail as I could. When I finished, I thought I had included a lot of detail. Then I took a photo of the flower. When I saw the photo, I was shocked. I missed a lot of details, like the little dots on the leaves and the way the sun hit the red petals.

If you have access to a camera, try this. Choose something to draw and look at it carefully. After drawing it, take a photo and compare the photo to your drawing. Did you miss anything? Try drawing it again, only this time include the details you missed.

Drawing and taking photos are great ways for writers to learn to look carefully!