The Art of Noticing

Today I noticed that I don't think about the way that any technology around me works, even though it's all very amazing. We’re all like that, about all amazing things: We just accept the fantastical things around us … usually without wondering or even paying them any attention. The creative lesson I took from this Noticing is that in any form of storytelling — and especially in genres like sci-fi...

Today it occurred to me that with people I've known for a long time, the person they were back in the day is not the person they are now … as if they are two separate people. In the same way, I am tied to the younger version of myself but I am definitely not still that same person . We share memories, but that “older version of me” feels more like a distant cousin than somebody I actually was . In...

Today I noticed that even though I'm an author whose books are mostly in e-book format, I actually prefer paperback books more when I’m the reader. I’ve also noticed that teenagers around me tend to be the same way … and the other day, my dad just told me the same thing. It feels similar to the way vinyl has had a resurgence in popularity even though digital music is “better” in many ways. The cre...

Today I noticed that we usually call an "accent" in a foreign language is actually just pronouncing words differently than the "official" pronunciation. That's all it is, even though people act like it's some mysterious phenomenon or an elegant vocal tic. The creative lesson I took from this Noticing is that authenticity in creative works arises not from adhering to a perceived "norm," but instead...

Today I noticed that you need a different, tighter guitar capo for a 12 string guitar. When I bought my 12 string, I tried to use the weaker capo that I use for my 6 strings, but it doesn't work very well because it has to compress a small string right next to a big thick one. The creative lesson I took from this Noticing is that every task, project, or creation requires specific tools optimized f...

Today I noticed that the Russian Little Big (which I’d been introduced to by a friend who’d shown me their official music videos) only SEEMS funny in their videos, but that’s not a hard and fast thing. The videos are ridiculous and funny and bizarre, and so I decided "this is a really funny band." But then at some point, the same friend showed me live footage from one of their concerts. Instead of...

Today I noticed that basketball player LeBron James has an audio series on the Calm meditation app. I'm not a basketball fan, nor particularly a LeBron fan, but I really enjoyed listening to the series simply because it gave me an insight into how a person at the peak of his field thinks and what how mindset works under pressure, even if it's a field that I have nothing to do with and will never h...

Today I learned that context in film and TV is everything. While talking to actors on the TV show based on my books, one of them referenced a scene in which one character is shown standing outside the window of a restaurant, looking in. They specifically mentioned that there was no shot showing the character - Mike - walking up to the restaurant, so the joke was that he had just been there all alo...

Today I learned from someone at one of my daughter’s volleyball games that some colleges now actually preferring slightly shorter middle blockers than the usual super-tall middle blockers that have dominated the sport in the past (and, to be fair, in most cases still today). Not many college coaches think this way, but some do: prioritizing speed (which tends to come harder to very tall people) ov...

Today I noticed a meta-level Noticing. This entire series is about noticing things, but in this particular case it's the noticing itself that I noticed: specifically, that learning to notice things is indeed a learnable habit. I force myself every day to write down something that I have learned or noticed, and it's getting easier and easier to do … “Noticings” popping up all the time in my every d...

Today I noticed that near where I live, the fast food chain Whataburger opened a "digital kitchen." From what I understand, it means that you can't go inside; you can only order things online and then pick them up. I wondered why they would use a prime spot for something where you can't even sit down inside, but then I learned that it exists to get around a sort of "restaurant curfew" in the area....

Today I noticed how strange it is that we have animals living in our houses … as pets, sure, but it’s still weird. It may seem normal, but the idea of just having animals living in our human family, in our house, is really weird if you stop and think about it. The creative lesson I took from this Noticing is that in any world or setting we create as writers and artists, it's crucial to remember th...

Today I noticed that I've started to wake up at 3AM pretty much every day. That used to be a loose rule, but now it seems to be exact. I might wake up before or after, but I almost always wake up at 3AM on the nose whether there is something on my mind to preoccupy me or not. The creative lesson I took from this Noticing is that maybe my patterns and rhythms, whether natural or ingrained, sometime...

Today I learned from some of the actors on the Reginald The Vampire TV show that when you are acting for TV, maintaining continuity is a nightmare, especially when props are involved. They have to do the exact same actions in the exact same ways every single time as the scene is shot and re-shot for different angles. Even without props, body language needs to be exactly the same, and body language...

Today I learned a sitcom my wife and I have been watching had a laugh track all along, despite my suddenly noticing it and being totally offended by the dumb inclusion of a laugh track in a modern sitcom. It had just … vanished beneath my level of awareness. The creative lesson I took from this Noticing is that perception is highly influenced by our expectations, prior experiences, and the context...

Today I learned from a recent episode of a The Huberman Lab podcast that in truth, only an area the size of your thumbnail, when viewed at the end of your outstretched arm, is actually in focus at any given time. The creative lesson I took from this Noticing is that our perception is not the same as reality. Just as our eyes sample bits of our environment and rely on our brain to create a cohesive...

Today I learned that although I'm obviously not a doctor and that nothing here should be construed as medical advice or even a definite fact, I heard on a podcast recently that exercise seems to be about as effective in terms of alleviating depression, percentagewise across a large group sample, as SSRI antidepressants. Psilocybin is apparently something like two or three times as effective. The c...

Today I learned that even if you know what makes you sad, angry, or otherwise triggered into negative emotions, that doesn’t mean you automatically accept the negative emotions that will keep coming from them even after you understand their cause. Instead, there’s a limbo phase while your old triggers dissolve. Minimizing personal pain means accepting the emotions, not resisting them. The creative...

Today I learned from Stephen King's book On Writing that King spent his early career as an alcoholic and drug addict. His description of those years sounds like a haze and a hell for him, but he also produced some great work. King was so drunk and high while writing some books, he barely remembers them ... and that in particular, he doesn't remember writing Cujo at all. The creative lesson I took...

Today, I learned that I should start a podcast. There wasn’t really a creative lesson … or, rather, the creative lesson is baked right into the idea of starting a podcast in the first place. Because the podcast IS creative lessons. Get it? It’s like Inception. WANT MORE? Members get extra episodes of the podcast , extra companion blog posts (see below), and more every week … all for the price of a...