With writing comes lots of staring off into space, and nail biting, and waiting.

So when I have writer’s block or I’m taking a break from a book (so necessary!), I try to catch up on reading (any aspiring writer has homework!) and try to get out and see what’s going on in the neighborhood.  In Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott always suggests carrying a note card with you wherever you go, so you can jot ideas down.

I can’t tell you how often I use this trick. I mean, I write down experiences, smells, quotes, sights. EVERYTHING. And sometimes I really do end up using these ideas in my writing.

This other cool book I like – The Observation Deck, talks about how important specifics are to your writing, e.g. instead of saying, “He ate a piece of fruit under a tree,” you should write, “He ate an apple under a willow.”

I like books that have quirky, yet specific, random things in them. This book I just read had a neat scene set in a playground next to some rusted train tracks. I loved the visual.

If you need inspiration, get out and take a look around for some great material, like this stuff I found: