What You See In Your Heart
(from Shut Up & Write! Chapter Six, "Show and Tell")

One of my favorite memories is of my dad driving a front-end loader around the yard. The bucket is lifted, and in it, my nephew Brian sits, proudly surveying the world. Dad lifts the bucket higher so Brian can touch the pine tree, the birdhouse, the top of my kid sisters' playhouse. Brian's job is to tell Grandpa what things are like "up there." Sharp needles. Rough bark. It smells like Christmas.

When I take young writers for a walk through the woods or an old cemetery, I stop them every few minutes and ask: What do you see? What do you hear? What do you feel? What do you taste? What do you smell? They taste flowers, sniff apple blossoms, and feel the smooth cold granite of a gravestone. This is ammunition for writing. This is a habit I hope they carry with them through their lives.

Whatever your age, you make your writing better, and your life richer, when you make "showing" a part of your everyday, walk-around life. Pay attention: Look closely. Notice the details. Use your senses: Stand still. See, hear, feel, taste, smell. Use your imagination: Daydream. Make up stories. Visualize. Practice writing: "Show" your characters, the setting, the action.

The sun is warm. The breeze touches you. See the yellow daffodils. And write what you see in your heart.