Draw this apple.

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Many years ago, my high school art teacher asked us to draw an apple. It was a very simple assignment, even for a group of half-asleep teenagers who weren’t necessarily interested in art but required to take the intro class. People drew different versions of a round, red fruit. Most of them had a stem, some of them a single leaf.

Next she placed an apple on the table in front of the room. Now draw THIS apple. Most of us proceeded to draw another apple that looked very similar to the first. But the apple on the table was a bit lopsided. One side was more bulbous than the other. It did not have a stem. The skin was bruised.

And then she explained a very basic lesson. When trying to create a realistic rendering of an object, it’s important to draw the object in front of you. Instead of seeing any old apple, the version of which might be featured on a child’s flashcard for the word “apple,” look at the one in front of you as a collection of lines, surfaces, and colors. Pay attention to the details, instead of the version you have in your head.

Photo by Louis Hansel on Unsplash

I think about this lesson often, as it applies to writing.