Try writing a description of these: a man lifting a bottle of cold beer to his lips; a ten-year-old who has just returned from school on a hot day; a woman waiting in the rain for a city bus. Make each description so clear, so specific, it could be no other person in the world.

The Power of the Quirky Detail

“If I tell you my character has grey hair, you will not see her. If I tell you she has a tiny scar at the upper left corner of her lip from which protrudes one grey whisker—you will make up the rest of her face with absolute clarity. If I tell you my character is waiting in a car, you won’t be ‘caught,’ but if I tell you he pushes his fingers down in the crack of the car seat where the ancient leather has pulled away from the seat frame, and pulls up a small coin purse with a faded note in it—you will be mine.”

—Pat Schneider, Writing Alone and With Others

Now try Pat’s exercise:

Try writing a description of these: a man lifting a bottle of cold beer to his lips; a ten-year-old who has just returned from school on a hot day; a woman waiting in the rain for a city bus. Make each description so clear, so specific, it could be no other person in the world.

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