I was in the bookstore yesterday, where they carry a line of refrigerator magnets printed with sayings and quotes of famous authors and philosophers. I happened to see this one, and liked it so much I almost paid the $5 for the thing, but then decided I really couldn’t justify it:
“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.”
Roald Dahl
While it’s not directly about writing, I think it certainly applies. As a writer, watching what goes on, and seeing what most people miss, is really what makes for good literature.
Kind of a corollary to the first quote is this:
Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don’t see any.
– Orson Scott Card
That’s the trick: Seeing the story, and getting the idea jotted down before you lose it.
What Card says is so true. Whenever we see something we’re always thinking, “Hmm…how could I spin this?”
While others may rush around, we’re sitting back watching them and everything around them.
Thanks for coming by, Tasha! It’s true, every time I’m out somewhere I’m sizing up people and situations, figuring out how I’d describe it in a novel!