Journey 365: Observation Deck, OPEN a Drawer

Observation Deck for Writers

Journey 365:

Across the States in 365 Pages

(a page a day makes a book!)

From Huntington Beach, California, to Lake Tahoe, Nevada, to Salem, Oregon, and Fort Hood, Texas, I'm traveling the states to visit family--the true quest, however, is to find myself and write another book. 

Each day I wake when my body wakes (I have medical uncontrollable insomnia and other ailments, thanks to our Mold House), SMILE, stretch and do some push-ups, grab a cup of hot tea with sugar and milk, write 500 words, hike, write 500 more words, work 15 minutes each on a script and 187 (mini-documentaries), and spend time transcribing audio taped interviews. Everything else is whatever makes my heart smile.

Your character OPENs a drawer

In case you're wondering, money for the road comes from paid articles and local merchandising jobs. Passive income would be easier and smarter, but I only earn about $18 a year...

Today's chosen Observation Deck card is OPEN a drawer. 

"Thrust your hand deep into life, and whatever you bring up in it, that is your subject."

~Goethe, poet

Naomi Epel, the creator and author of my Observation Deck (tool kit for writers), shares ideas on cards that you use in your writing or for free-writing, and is something I've been using and suggesting for decades. 

OPEN a drawer suggests that you use this idea to learn more about your character or to imagine an open drawer and create a story. 

Maybe, you simply pull something out of an open drawer and you revolve a tale around it (you pull out a utility knife and realize it's the same one that Matthew used to quickly to cut out of the ties used to restrain him during a home invasion in which he was the lone survivor).

Another thought, perhaps your heroine keeps something in her beauty drawer that is a hidden secret of what motivates her to do the things she does; a love letter from someone other than her husband or an ultra sound picture of a baby she carried secretly and gave up the previous decade.

Whether you use the OPEN a drawer card for a simple warm-up to your "real" writing or for your book, you'll find the exercise will take you to places you hadn't thought about before and they just may be the jump-start you've been searching for.