Everyone knows what people watching is, but have you heard of thing watching?
A few years back I had this weird idea to study inanimate objects exactly like people.
For example, I decided to pay attention to doors. For an entire weekend, everywhere I went I looked at doors. I started to notice how much amazing variety there was among doors.
Another weekend I focused on sidewalks.
Most people would find this super dull (and weird. I got some odd looks when I was inspecting doors at a restaurant in the bathroom, for example).
In some respects, I found thing watching more fun than people watching. Characters are surrounded by things. The #1 way to get readers to like your work is to help them see the story. They won’t see your character the way you WANT them to, but they WILL see the “things” in your story exactly as you do if you use the right words and imagery.
Try thing watching sometime. Pick one item and do nothing but look for it over the course of a weekend. Silverware. Doors. Shoes. Grass. Walls. Jewelry. You might be surprised at watch you see.
