Force yourself to write down what is of no interest, what is most obvious, most common, most colourless...antique shops, clothes, hi-fi, etc. Don't say, don't write 'etc'. Make an effort to exhaust the subject, even if that seems grotesque, or pointless, or stupid. You still haven't looked at anything, you've merely picked out what you've long ago picked out.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of detailed observation and the act of recording seemingly mundane details.
In this quote, Georges Perec highlights the value of examining the overlooked and seemingly trivial aspects of life. He encourages a thorough exploration of the ordinary, arguing that only by detailing the commonplace can one truly see and appreciate the full spectrum of experiences and depth within their surroundings. The push against brevity and the urge to elaborate on the dull and everyday serves to enrich one’s understanding and creative expression.
In practice
In a writing workshop, this quote can inspire participants to dive deeper into their narratives.
What we need to question is bricks, concrete, glass, our table manners, our utensils, our tools, the way we spend our time, our rhythms. To question that which seems to have ceased forever to astonish us. We live, true, we breathe, true; we walk, we go downstairs, we sit at a table in order to eat, we lie down on a bed on order to sleep. How? Where? When? Why? Describe your street. Describe another. Compare.
This is how space begins, with words only, signs traced on the blank page. To describe space: to name it, to trace it, like those portolano-makers who saturated the coastlines with the names of harbours, the names of capes, the names of inlets, until in the end the land was only separated from the sea by a continuous ribbon of text. Is the aleph, that place in Borges from which the entire world is visible simultaneously, anything other than an alphabet?
One of the things I had to learn as a writer was to trust the act of writing. To put myself in the position of writing to find out what I was writing. I did that with 'World's Fair,' as with all of them. The inventions of the book come as discoveries.
Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness.
The primary requisite for writing well about food is a good appetite.
Joao Gilberto on guitar could read a newspaper and sound good.
I was able to capture on film things the actors didn't even know they were doing.
I'm always terrified when I'm writing.
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