The value of observation
Published: August 1, 2003
People often tell me they are amazed at the immense amount of knowledge writers seem to have on various subjects. But facts are easily come by in these days of dictionaries and up-to-date encyclopedias. It is original observation, added to mere fact, that counts in creative writing. If one thing is more important than anything else in the equipment of a writer, it is his curiosity, his fresh interest in what lies everywhere around him, his enthusiastic reception with eyes, ears, tongue, fingertips and all. It is good discipline to go out deliberately and look and listen and touch the things and the living creatures with which writers-and their characters-come in contact, keeping in mind all the time the infinite meanings and complications of everything and everybody.
From an article by Virginia Sorensen, The Writer, September 1948
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