Freewriting: observing

Before reading further in this chapter, do this exercise. Close your eyes and relax. Then turn your head slightly up, down, or to the right or left. Open your eyes and focus on the first thing you see. Write nonstop for five minutes, describing this thing in as much sensory detail as possible. After five minutes, stop writing. Now move closer. If possible, pick the thing up, turn it over, touch it, shake it, smell it, and reexamine it. Then write for five more minutes, nonstop, describing everything else you noticed.