The Art of People-Watching

Advice for how observation can help you put people on the page.

- Michael La Ronn

The most important lesson I ever learned as a writer didn't come from a writing book, conference, or a wise mentor. It came from sitting in an airport Arrivals section, studying people.

I was picking my wife up from a girls' trip. A maintenance issue with the jet bridge caused a long delay in her getting off the plane. I shifted in an uncomfortable plastic chair, watching weary travelers descending an escalator while '80s one-hit wonders played from speakers overhead.

Whenever someone rode down the escalator, my heart leaped, hoping it was my wife. But each time, it was a stranger looking nervously down at the crowd, scanning for their loved ones.

I decided to play a game. As each person reached the bottom of the escalator and reunited with their loved ones, I asked myself, "What's that person's story?"

The experience forever changed how I think about writing characters.

As writers, we often seek external advice, but we sometimes forget that the best teacher is the experience of being human and using our five senses.

In this article, we'll cover how to master the art of people-watching. You'll learn how to uncover details about people that you can easily translate into fiction.

Remember the lessons in this article through a simple phrase and acronym: "Put every person you see through their PACES." PACES stands for:

Physical characteristics

Attitude

Cues (nonverbal)

Emotional vulnerabilities

Setting

P Is for Physical Characteristics

Physical characteristics include but are not limited to:

• Clothing

• Hair

• Eyes

• Facial features

• Mannerisms

Every physical characteristic is a clue to that person's personality. To illustrate this, I'll present a case study of two contrasting women who came down the escalator, one after the other.