How to Report Observations

By eHow Careers & Work Editor

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Writing detailed and descriptively comes naturally for some and is a learned skill for others. Train yourself to use your senses to detect sights, sounds, smells and textures in everyday life. Then practice reporting your observations so that no detail is left out. Use these exercises to become a better reporter or police office, or just make your fictional stories richer.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Step1

Choose a public place that's not too distracting but has enough action to give you something to write about. Cafes, shopping malls and popular parks are a good choice. Take a spiral-bound notebook and a comfortable pen so you can write quickly.

Step2

Concentrate on one of your senses. Write phrases describing what you see and ignore the smells and sounds around you. Or note all noises except conversation. Touch everything you can get your hands on around you and describe your sensations.

Step3

Observe one person and record what they do. Ignore their conversation for now, if you're close enough to hear them. Look for tics, habits, how they walk, how they sit and describe what they're wearing.

Step4

Pick one location like the swings at the park or the counter at a diner. Note what people do and draw conclusions about who they are.

Step5

Find a comfortable place to sit or lie down. Close your eyes and call up a vivid memory. It could be grandma's house, a trip somewhere or the cousin you used to play with as a kid but haven't seen in ages. Write a description of the memory, using as many of your senses as you can.

Step6

Expand on your notes. Once you've collected sensory impressions, write a vignette or story by connecting images and injecting details.

Tips & Warnings

Copy descriptive passages from contemporary fiction and use them as inspiration.
Don't think too much when you write these exercises. Let the words come out and edit later.