Buzz
If you're immersed in your NaNoWriMo project and feel like your novel is missing the rich sensory details that seem to come naturally to other writers—those elements that make you feel as if you're part of the story, experiencing everything alongside the characters—it may be time to begin carrying an observational journal.
This type of journal is less about personal reflection and more about quickly recording the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures you encounter—everything that builds a vivid sensory experience. By regularly practicing this observation, you'll enrich your sensory vocabulary, which you can then incorporate into your writing.
Literary Hub recently published an excerpt from Lydia Davis's latest essay collection, Essays One, where Davis discusses the benefits of this practice:
This practice will enhance both your observational skills and your ability to express yourself. A beneficial feedback loop forms: By regularly noting things down, you’ll naturally begin to notice more; observing more will give you even more to document.
Davis recommends using your notebook to capture precise and vivid observations, from the posture of a solitary person at a café to the way steam rises from your coffee, momentarily thickening the air right in front of you. (While it’s not necessary to do this in a coffee shop, writers often find themselves there for a reason, even if it’s cliché.)
Here’s a passage from Davis’s notebook, capturing the impact of wind on an outdoor patio:
Strong winds yesterday scattered women’s long hair, swept long skirts, shook the crowns of trees, knocked napkins off laps during outdoor dinners, sent lettuce flying off plates, and sent flakes of pastry onto the sidewalk.
As you take the time to observe and describe your environment, and notice how it influences both your body and those around you, you’ll accumulate a richer bank of sensory details and memories to draw from when you begin drafting your novel.
They say you should write about what you know, so let your observational journal help you understand the effects of a gusty breeze on a delicate pastry, the sensation of inhaling the aroma of a steaming coffee cup, or the way someone’s posture shifts when they’re sitting solo in a crowded café.
Then dive back into your NaNoWriMo project and check how many of those tiny observations manage to sneak their way into your narrative.
