The Sublime Art of Noticing

and a VERY special lemon (don't miss the lemon!)

My dear readers,

I trust this correspondence finds you suitably intrigued (as Sherlock Holmes might greet you).

Imagine our great detective standing over a mundane piece of evidence – a partial footprint, a smudge of frosting, or a peculiar crease in a newspaper. All clues to cracking the case!

What others miss, he notices.

"You see, but you do not observe,"

he famously told Dr. Watson¹ when explaining how Watson has seen the steps leading up to their apartment at 221B Baker Street countless times but cannot tell him the exact number of steps.

I can tell you that there are two granite steps on my front porch, but I cannot tell you how many steps lead from the entry way to the second floor.

Holmes's exceptional ability is simply the art of paying deliberate attention. The ability to notice small details helps Holmes solve crime (whereas in a Jason Bourne movie, Bourne absorbs every tiny detail to prevent an assassination or escape a trap).

I vow to be more deliberate. Although in the case of the stairs, how important is that, really? (I really am a Watson).

I’m convinced, dear readers, that the art of noticing is what separates good writers from great ones. It separates a great book from an okay one.

And since writing is a craft, meaning, you can get better with practice, we can all become better writers - and readers - if we practice noticing more.

This pondering on the word Notice came about after reading Rob Walker’s The Art of Noticing.

Instead of a gratitude journal, he decided to notice 3-5 good things and jot them down in his diary.

I forgot the “good things” part, and simply asked my daughter, “what three things did you notice today?”

First she groaned (she’s used to my games) and then…

Woah, what? She might have said the same thing had we been playing “Rose, Thorn, Bud” but suddenly, a really good and unexpected conversation opened up.

Which leads me to believe that noticing will not only help our writing, but our relationships.

I love this story about noticing: “The One Small Thing My Wife Does That Gets Me Every Time” by

Michael Thompson

Five Things I Noticed Today:

Chapped Lips

The smell of chocolate chip cookies baking at 8:30 a.m. (send help)

Cold, arctic air on my face when I stepped outside

The beautiful fuschia-like color of watercolor paint

Fourteen small, irregular-sized ice cubes in my glass at lunch time (how important is that? Sherlock & Bourne would notice!)

In any case, I’m working on being a sharper observer, a person and writer who notices people’s life stories by the calluses on their hands, the wear on their shoes, the way they hold themselves. Every scuff mark is a potential clue, every nervous tic is a possible plot point in someone’s life.

Sherlock was notoriously objective and unemotional. We, too, can be shrewd² and observing. But Sherlock also had a soft heart and often surprised the reader by protecting others - particularly women - from blackmailers and abusers. He could only do that because he noticed.

Sir Conon Doyle wrote four Sherlock Holmes books and fifty six short stories about Sherlock Holmes beginning in 1887 and they have stood the test of time! Holmes offers a masterclass in the art of paying attention (fun fact: Holmes is based off of Dr. Joseph Bell, one of Doyle's professors at the University of Edinburgh, who was known for his extraordinary powers of observation and deduction.)³

Sherlock Holmes stories aren't just mysteries – they're meditations on the power of truly seeing the world and people around us.

Noticing slows us down and makes us see. And everyone likes to be seen. So next time you see it, say it!

To the check-out girl: ooooh, I love your red lipstick!

To the bank teller: you’re so good with people!

To the librarian: ooooh, what wonderful glasses!

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown is a book about noticing. Babies love it.

"In the great green room
There was a telephone
And a red balloon
And a picture of -
The cow jumping over the moon"

-Margaret Wise Brown, 1947 (and 48 million copies later)

Is the devil really in the details? (Where does that expression come from?) I think the art of Noticing is Divine. Even sublime.

What are three things you noticed today? Tell me about it. Or start writing.

Amy 💖

p.s. Thank you for subscribing! I NOTICE. Thank you to my three new paid subscribers in January - I NOTICED! It is so so thrilling to receive a paid subscriber notification, and helps me spend more time writing. So grateful <3

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That Very Special Lemon

Speaking of noticing…you wouldn’t necessarily have noticed yet (NO, NOT ME!) because at Week 13, a baby in the womb (fetus) is only the size of a lemon.

Announcing: our very own lemon. Cope is 13 weeks along…carrying a very special lemon. And I’m going to watercolor my way through it all :)⁴ Yay!

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The Last Part:

Happy birthday, Dad! My dad turned 75 yesterday. He is the the most wonderful dad in all the land. I love you, Steve P!

Relieved: to submit my latest manuscript (boarding school mystery) this week!

Intrigued: by this red sneaker/heel by Sarah Blakely, the founder of Spanx. Sarah is now launching Sneex. Cool.

Running: I ran outside once last week! Before the arctic blast returned! It was heavenly.

Reading: I just finished three GREAT books that I can’t wait to share with you next Tuesday!!!

Wearing: Okay, ya’ll, I really like having my nails done, but I have neither the time, patience or money to have them done by a professional on a regular basis. Enter Polish Pops. I’m on my second pair and looooving them. They last two weeks! Thanks, Jill and Angela. This has also helped my biting habit…

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The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair is part-mystery, part understanding of the human heart 💖

Ten Thousand Tries is Golden’s quest to save his dad and the soccer team ⚽

The McNifficents is one summer with six rambunctious kids and their miniature-schnauzer nanny 🐕 New Hampshire’s 2024 Great Reads for Kids selection!

1. The quote "You see, but you do not observe" comes from "A Scandal in Bohemia," one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes short stories.

2. Shrewd is an adjective describing someone who is mentally sharp, clever, and astute in practical matters. A shrewd person has the ability to understand situations quickly and use that understanding to their own advantage (but I don’t mean manipulative).

3. “Bell could deduce a patient's symptoms, diagnose them, and report on their origins before they spoke about their afflictions.”

4. It’s funny (?) how we so often compare women’s anatomy and babies to fruit. I would have drawn the baby…but a lemon was much easer. Look for next week’s painting - a peach!