Are you an observant person?

All of us may want to reply to that question in the affirmative, but the truth is that all of us, after self-examination, would have to admit that no matter how observant we are already, this is something we can still improve upon.
This is a great skill for writers to have as the more observant we are, the more it will come across in the books or stories that we write. We can describe a scene with better detail; we can make our characters more appealing and real.  This is true, no matter the kind of fiction you write: crime fiction, horror fiction, suspense fiction, romantic fiction, or mystery fiction.
Thankfully, even if we are not that observant now, it is a skill that can be improved!
There is a saying that “familiarity breeds contempt”.  However, familiarity with something or someone can also lead to taking it or them for granted, which in turns leads to being less observant.
I remember one work colleague arriving at work one day saying that he had just driven his car to work and had no idea how he had arrived.  He had driven the same route every day to and from work for so long, that now he could do it on “auto-pilot”.  He had become so familiar with the route he took that he did not have to think about what to do or where to go.  He just did it!   Just think of all the interesting details of each journey that he would miss out on if that continued to happen!
I can also remember when I was young traveling with my family to the wedding of some friends.  I had played chess and other games with my sister to while away the time of the journey.  At the wedding reception, I was enthusiastically greeted by an old family friend that I had not seen for a while.  Eventually, she asked me if my sister was also at the reception, to which I replied, “yes”.
She told me that she would go to find my sister and then asked me, “what is she wearing?”
Though I had earlier spent more than two hours next to my sister, for the life of me, I did not know the answer to that question.  That incident certainly taught me a lesson!
What can we do to improve?  Well, if you type “how to be more observant” in an Internet search engine, you will get a wealth of suggestions, but I will add a favorite of mine that I have found useful through the years.
Learn from comedians!  What does that mean?  Have you ever listened to a comedian and found yourself laughing at how they can take certain people behaviors or conversations and show you the humor in them?  Comedians are great observers as that is how they can get the source for much of their material.
One comedian, actor, writer and film director I enjoyed was the late Jacques Tati.  Once, when describing how he got ideas for his material, he said he got it from watching people around him.  People walking, driving their cars, people stuck in traffic in their cars.  People acting naturally, completely unaware that others might be watching them.
Become a people watcher.  Don’t take others for granted.  Notice how they dress, how they walk, their posture, what gestures they use and so forth.  Then take notes of what you have seen.  Try to get new and more in depth details every time you do this.  Notice their emotions; notice the humor in what they do.  This will not just help you become more observant, but you will also get more details for characters for the next novel or story that you write!