Writing Tip: Another Perspective

By TheRaven6825 on January 18, 2017 • ( 0 )

I take a lot of photos, as I am always looking for something eye-catching to use for the backgrounds for my poetry. When I see people using their phones, they are always looking straight ahead or taking selfies. When I had the time to really absorb my surroundings while I was on vacation in Maine, I found amazing images by using a different perspective. I aimed my camera up while taking a walk in the woods, as well as down, focusing on my boots crunching a bed of fall leaves. I shot places normally ignored like a ladder on the side of a shed, or a doormat covered in sleet.

The same goes for writing. Get inspired by looking at something you usually don’t pay attention to. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Low ground – Look at nature or any other surface from a low point of view, like a small animal or even an insect would. What textures do you see? What difficulties could one face from here? How would being so small in a big world affect you emotionally?

Look Up – Go outside and look at the sky in the snow or a rainstorm. Is it a liberating feeling? Think from the perspective of a snowflake or raindrop. Observe the shape of clouds and let it inspire a fictional story. Look at the surface of the side of a building when standing from the ground floor. Describe the details of shadows from balconies or reflections from glass windows.

Battered Objects – Take notice of a piece of driftwood on the sands of a beach or river. Tell the story of its journey to the shoreline. When you see a rusted battery in a yard or side of the street, wonder about the object it gave power to. Create a Sci-Fi story with a twist.

Signs – We see them every day and they give us directions where we need to go. What if we didn’t have them? Write about what the outcome would be without certain signs. Use them symbolically for the direction or misdirection of your life or someone you know. How do the signs see us in the chaos of the day?