There is a pleasure in the thought that the particular tone of my mind at this moment may be new in the universe; that the emotions of this hour may be peculiar and unexampled in the whole of eternity of moral being. — Ralph Waldo Emerson, April 17, 1827, Charleston, South Carolina

How can you excavate for this particular tone of mind? Or rather sculpt away the “untoned” to allow this tone of your own mind to surface? For me, it is by keeping up the practice of involving my senses in making observations.

By keeping a writer’s journal, we learn to take the time to be increasingly aware of our surroundings. In becoming more aware, we see that our surroundings are supplying our writing with details, images and reflections that support us in being interesting and surprising in our writing. We then write more easily from both our hearts and minds, even when we don’t at first know what is in them. In other words, starting with observations means we  always have something to write about; it also means that we can find new ways into memories we want to explore.

Here are prompts to help you supply yourself with the kind of inventory you’ll find valuable for your writing, prompts that will help you train your writer’s sensibilities and powers of observation:

Scenes. From time to time, bring a camera with you where you write. Take a picture and look at what you captured. Write about what you notice in your picture, what the photograph is composed of and what it makes you aware of remembering. Be alert to what unintended elements are in the photograph and the “re-seeing” this might introduce.

Quiet. This is hard to come by in our noisy, busy world, but we can find quiet, whether that is in an empty room at night or a park on a rainy day, or when swimming underwater. Go somewhere to find quiet, or remember somewhere you did find quiet. What does the quiet look like? Write about that. What it sounds like, tastes like, smells like and feels like on your skin? What are the things not there that ensure the quiet? What are the things that are there that ensure the quiet? What do you reflect on in the quiet you have found or remember?

Movement. Even in the stillest moment, there is movement around us. A tiny circulation of air, a bird darting onto a branch, a fly crawling on a counter top or window. Go somewhere and notice what is moving, especially the small and usually overlooked things. Try to describe the movements you observe so that each is distinct and has different from others and has different verbs associated with it.

Commerce. We are very busy buying and selling in this culture. But happens when you watch shoppers and transactions around you? Who is buying what from whom? What objects are they touching? How do those feel? Describe some of these scenes in daily commerce that involve those you are watching, and then end with a scene involving you. How is the scene involving yourself the same and different than the other scenes you observed? What might you conclude? Write this, too.

Nature. Writing about nature is important to many writers, whether they live in the country or the city. Gardens, parks, trees, birds, dogs, cats and zoo animals end up in most authors’ writing. Sometime when you are making a journal entry, list what you can see of nature from where you are writing. What do these bits of nature have to say to you at the moment? Let them speak to you. Frank O’Hara wrote a famous poem entitled “A True Account of Talking to the Sun at Fire Island” in which the sun comes to visit him on Fire Island, waking him up. Let whatever elements of nature you can see have some things to tell you, and they will undoubtedly wake you up.

Maintenance. As much as we see buying and selling and nature in our surroundings, we see maintenance — all the activity of keeping things going, running, repaired. From time to time write a journal entry about something in your life that is being maintained or repaired or is in need of repair. What is wrong with it? What will the actual maintenance or repair require? Who is doing it? How long does it take? Why is it important? Is it noisy or quiet? Expensive or not costly at all? Does it require special tools or materials? Do you know the person or people doing the work? What do they look like while they do it? After you write about the maintenance or repair, create a blessing you might make over the repair or maintenance people, for the process itself or for the object. You might be writing about interpersonal processes as well as about roads, appliances, gardens, lawns, motors, etc.

News. What do you notice when you pick up a news paper? Headlines and photographs. Think about utilizing these attributes in your journaling from observation. Insert a compelling image you find online or one from a photo album. What in the image you choose helps you find a story to tell? What is not in the photograph that you would have experienced as a reporter if you were at the scene?

Write a list of headlines about your day. Use sensory observations to convey the tone of your day: Snails Leave Slime Over Stepping Stones, None Arrested; Racoon Sits in Upper Branches of a Cedar to Stalk Gardener; Aphid Infestation Turns Broccoli Heads Bitter; Pea Tendrils Cry Out From Behind the Plants’ Yellow Leaves; Household Celebrates August by Eating Partly-Gnawed Beets and Cucumbers. Do any of your headlines  inspire their own story? Go for it!

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Remember: Borrow from the world to find intriguing and open-ended ways to start off writing.

Believe Emerson’s words about the possibility that your writing at this hour may release a tone,  “unexampled in the whole of eternity of moral being.” It is not hubris to feel this way about keeping a writer’s journal. It is motivating. You will create more than you know when you are looking at something upon which you allow yourself to concentrate.