Enrich Your Writing with Surprising Details

Back in April, I attended the New England Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (NESCBWI) conference. It was an amazing experience and I encourage all writers to attend conferences whenever possible.

Author Cynthia Lord gave a keynote speech discussing her award-winning middle grade novel RULES, which tells the story of how 12-year-old Catherine deals with life and her younger autistic brother.

During her talk, Lord described writing a scene where Catherine pushes her wheelchair-bound friend Jason around a parking lot so he could know what running felt like.

She told us that in order to get the real sensory detail of the scene, she actually went to a parking lot and pushed a stroller all around like a mad woman. The excerpt below is the scene that she wrote for the book.

I jog, more a fast walk than a run. Jason’s head and shoulders shake as I bump him over cracks in the tar. There’s so much to watch out for: holes and rocks and sand near the side of the building.

I stop beside the Dumpster. “Sorry this is such a bouncy ride. Are you sure you want to do this?”

Run. Fast.

I start again, pushing Jason’s chair ahead of me. I run past the fire hydrant and around the parking sign, keeping a lookout for cars pulling into or out of the parking lot. Every few feet I shoot a lightning-quick glance at Jason’s hands.

He doesn’t pick them up, just holds tightly to his communication book. So I make the first turn, running faster. Clouds of seagulls take to the air in front of us, quarreling and shrieking.

Running hard now, my feet pound the tar, the flap of seagulls wings as loud as my breath in my ears. People are looking, but I try not to see them as real, just statues to run past.

At the final turn, I see Mrs. Morehouse standing in the entrance to the parking lot, her palm out like a traffic cop, keeping cars from pulling in.

I dash past the mailbox, the EXIT HERE sign, past Mrs. Morehouse.

Leaning into it, faster, harder, my feet slap the pavement, until it comes — that weightless, near-to-flying fastness.

Lord suggests visiting places and observing people similar to those you’re writing about to notice the surprising details. Although she was speaking specifically about fiction writing, the same advice works for many types of writing.

Let’s say you have to write a fund-raising campaign letter for the local animal shelter. What could you discover by spending time with the animals or observing the volunteers and patrons?

What if you had to write a sell sheet for a $5,000 toilet? It may be odd to think about, but actually using the product once (or even just seeing it in person) could provide a level of detail you wouldn’t have otherwise had.

Photo by ecstaticist