public eye

I love to write in public places. One of my favorites is the coffeshops inside some of the larger bookstores these days. It's such a treat to enjoy my steaming cup of coffee, to eavesdrop on the conversations around me, and to quietly weave a few of those unsuspecting strangers into my writing world.

This prompt comes courtesy of Beth Baruch Joselow's Writing Without the Muse. Go to a public place with your writer's notebook. Any place will do--the library, the airport, a restaurant. Observe the people around you and choose one person as the focus of your writing practice. Try to inconspicuously observe your subject for at least twenty minutes. Begin by noting physical details, but move onto speculation--what is this person's occupation? family situation? personality? pet peeves? quirks? After your twenty minutes of note-taking, write a detailed character sketch of the person you've observed.

posted by lit lover at 8:25 AM