Something so simple and commonplace that we wouldn’t normally even think of it, but if we make the effort to really look, we find that there are differences. Old people might struggle out painfully, whilst young people jump out with enthusiasm and perhaps impatience. Some people heave themselves out with a convulsive effort. Bored children have to be cajoled or ordered to come out, and do so reluctantly.
Women exit differently from men. People’s dress effects how they get out - tight clothing requires more care than loose clothing! Some people talk while they’re doing it, some are silent. Some smile in anticipation, some are dour and unmoved.
I could go on, but you get the idea.
The point is, that for the writer this is all background material. When a character gets out of a car, the way they do it can be used to say something about them. It comes back to that old but important guideline: ‘show, don’t tell’. Is your hero worried about something? While around him people jump out excitedly, keen to go, he is moving slowly, distracted and uninterested. His actions, and the contrast between him and those around him, show that something is wrong.
These sort of fine details can also help make a scene more authentic. Little things can help readers visualise and identify with the picture you’re trying to show them.
An lady has to be helped out by (perhaps) her son and daughter-in-law. Someone keen to be somewhere forgets to pay their taxi, and has to be called back by the driver. A pedestrian passing by is nearly knocked over by a sudden surge of excited children. Little moments of human interaction, that may or may not have any direct bearing on the story, but which add to the realism of it.
So today I was practising my observation. Here’s what I saw.
I stopped for lunch at Sally Anne’s, a restaurant run by the Salvation Army with mostly volunteer staff. A very young looking girl - she looked to me like sixteen, but might have been older - took my order. I thought she would be pretty if she smiled, but she was quite expressionless. I smiled at her, said thank you at appropriate points. She did not smile back. She showed no emotion at all.
I wondered if she was upset and hiding it, or depressed, or just naturally dead-pan. I glanced her way now and then, as she served other tables, but there was no change.
After I’d finished, and was getting ready to leave, she came and took my plate. “Thank you, I said again. She didn’t smile.
The place had been about half full when I’d come in. By now, it was nearly empty. “Looks like your busy time is over,” I said.
She agreed. And just for a moment, she smiled. It didn’t last long, but while it did, it lit her face. I’d been right, she was pretty.
The bus stop was just outside. A long queue of people were filing on-board the U-5 service. One woman was wearing a woollen top, striped in brilliant colours - reds and greens and blues and yellows. In contrast to all the other coats and jackets, the various shades of dark blue and brown and black, it stood out, vibrant. It lifted my spirits just to see it, and made me smile.
My bus came in. I sat near the back, and listened to two women behind me. They were laughing. I couldn’t hear their conversation, so I don’t know what they were laughing about, but they laughed all the way, and quite loudly. One of them had a very distinctive sound to her laughter. When I first heard it, I thought at once ‘cackle’. It fitted that description perfectly. It sounded exactly like the word cackle does. It inspired thoughts of cartoon witches, and created a mental picture of an elderly woman
I didn’t turn round to look at them. (Not the done thing, not on a British bus!). But I got a glimpse when they got off. Two perfectly normal young women, early 20’s at most, and nothing remotely cartoon-ish or witch-like about either of them.
Some valuable observations, I thought. How a smile can change a face, and with it, your perception of the person. How a splash of bright colour can lift spirits and raise a smile. How the sound of a laugh can give completely the wrong impression of what a person looks like.
Any or all of these things might surface again in something I write. Look out for it!
(NB - there’s a lot of resources available on the internet to help writers develop their observation skills. Just google ‘writers and observation’).