Honest Little Apps · For library writing circles and newsletter editors
A ten-minute writing circle using the same observed object three ways. Paper and a pen are enough. Writers can use invented people throughout.
A blue salt shaker stands on the windowsill. One corner of its base is chipped. When it is tilted, a single grain falls out. Write these three observations at the top of the page.
Write two sentences to the neighbor who left the shaker behind. Describe one detail they might recognize and ask one question you genuinely want answered. Avoid deciding why they left it.
Write two sentences for someone moving in tomorrow. Use one of the same details to help them handle the object. Read the old and new versions aloud if you wish. Which word changed because the reader changed?
Imagine opening a note a year from now. Choose one detail from the original observation and one uncertainty you want to leave open. Circle the uncertainty.
To the neighbor: “The blue shaker is still on the sill. Do you remember when the base chipped?” To the housemate: “Hold the blue shaker over your plate before tipping it. Even a small tilt lets a grain through.” To a future self: “A grain fell onto the sill when I lifted the shaker today. I wonder where I will keep it next winter.”
Invite each writer to underline an observation and bracket an assumption. Ask which detail survived all three versions and why. Make sharing optional; the exercise can end with three private drafts.
Honest Little Apps grants newsletters, clubs, classrooms and libraries permission to print, adapt and distribute this original exercise, editor copy and diagram free with credit to Honest Little Apps. A backlink is optional. This permission excludes the native app screenshot, app code and third-party artwork. The screenshot is provided for editorial inspection only.