A fascinating article by Robin Cembulest at ArtNews.com reveals how Edward Hopper created his most famous painting, "Nighthawks"--the one that shows the interior of a diner as seen through its large window, revealing a couple, a man by himself, and a server.
A show of Hopper's drawings at the Whitney includes 19 studies for the painting, including sketches of the people and even the tableware that featured in the iconic picture.
It's interesting how much this resembles what writers do when creating a novel or screenplay. The studies show that Hopper considered having the scene revealed from inside the diner until moving the point of view to the outside. He sketched men sitting at a diner, and ultimately used himself and his wife as the models for the couple.
The result was a painting that looks like a still from a movie and invites you to imagine the personal stories of the people in it.
One way writers can apply this is to think of a still image that conveys the emotion of the story they want to tell. What would be the setting, which characters would be in it, what would they be doing?