Live in the moment so you can write in the moment

Children show me how to live in the moment. I’m teaching a creative writing class for kids this summer, and I’m inspired by how they experience life.

One of their assignments was to be detectives. “Observe what is going on around you and write it down in your notebook.”

As if I needed to tell them to be observant.

Adults often talk about stuff and think the kids are just off to the side coloring or playing with a doll or a truck. Think again. Children are sponges and soak up everything you say.

And kids immerse themselves in experiences.

In the last class, I brought out a tin of mints. The children came alive. This was their reaction:

“Ooohh, these look different,” they said, each taking one. All attention was on the mints.

“They have little specks on them. Will it burn my mouth?”

They popped the mints in their mouths.

“It feels funny on my tongue.”

They suck on the mints.

‘Mmmm. It’s sweet!”

A few minutes later: “Oh! Now, it feels different. It’s thin now!”

Who would think anyone could analyze and experience a mint that deeply?

What if we took their attention to eating a mint and wrote that level of sensory detail on the page? Consider how living in the moment can give your writing color and texture.

If you’d like to practice writing from your child-like space, try these techniques.