In the Observance of Cats For Writers

The house is quiet. Everyone is gone and the two new kittens are crawling around exploring everything within their small world. It is one of curiosity with non-stop touching, tasting, smelling, seeing, and hearing. They delight with each new discovery and claw their way over hurdles like the back of the couch or a chair.

As I watched them, I began to formulate a rather peculiar question. What can my kittens teach writers?

1. Discovery: Today it is windy and raining. They both sit very still and look out the window as the bushes and trees are bantered about by the strong November wind. It is the indicator of  change as good characters must do. Their heads turn slightly as they watch, continuously shifting with the environment.

2. Follow every sound: The listen with the keenness of the hunters of their ancestors. This is probably my Achilles' heel when I write. I often don't really listen to what my voices are saying. As my kittens do, they know to focus on a single-sound moment,

3. Taste it: Even it you have to spit it out right quick. Since bringing them home, I have had to pull feathers, tiny pieces of brick from the fireplace, paper, and litter out of their mouths. I teach creative writing to a group of middle schoolers who are as fearless as the kittens. Last week, one of my students stuck her tongue to the tile floor to be able to write about what it tasted like. Because of her experiencing that, her description became very real for me as a reader. How can you describe what the wind tastes like if you never go outside, and open up your mouth?

4. Touch it: The kittens grab and touch anything that is within their reach. Writers must know the textures of things. I often go to Michael's(a craft shop) which has a plethora of things to touch. I especially spend time in the cloth section. It doesn't stop there. Yeah, I know there are germs on everything, but how can you describe the coldness of a door against your face unless you lay your cheek against it?

5. Smell it: I have never seen little noses that work as much as the kittens.How excited they get when they smell their food being put in a dish. So, as a writer, I know what a wet leaf smells like, kitty breath, and the most expensive of perfumes. I will never forget the smell of the hospitals I have worked in, or the scent of a bloody, knife-cut body. I know early mornings on an English hillside and asphalt tar on a hot summer's day.

You might argue a writer should be able to create without first-hand experiences. I don't dispute this. There are many great writers who can and do. But, I can't imagine Hemingway describing Paris or Mark Twain his Mississippi River without having been there.

Oh, and by the way, they both loved cats.