Doesn’t matter where you write by plot or the seat of your pants. The Devil is in the details.
For me I write in waves. First draft is with broad strokes. With each pass I add more details to the scene and characters. Soon the road through my story gets bumpy.
Turning Flat Stanley‘s into flesh and blood characters.
“Mitchel was about six feet tall, and under two-hundred pounds.” This is a generic description. I know he is tall, dark and handsome, with eyes the color of dark chocolate. He has cute love-handles that roll over his belt, which are the results of too many home-cooked meals by his new bride. But my reader doesn’t see what I see, hear what I hear, or know him very well until I reveal the picture and turn on the audio.
To introduce him to my readers, I must give him life. Somehow I must depict not just his features and statistics.
What is he doing, saying? Is he moving or standing still? For the reader to understand the character, he must live. A little bit like Dr. Frankenstein, we as writers take bits and pieces to create something from nothing.
With each draft, I add more, until fingers crossed, my characters and scenes are visible to my reader.
I want to avoid…
Laundry lists of descriptions. (Blond hair, blue eyes, age 45 etc.)
Cliches that make characters appear like caricatures.
How…
by combining descriptions with actions, emotions, or thoughts, allowing them to do double duty.
My love affair with books began long before I could read. Sitting silent, spellbound listening to her enchanting voice I believed every word true, the characters real. Saturday Morning Storytime at the town library was magical. I rushed to the quiet mat, found my seat on the front row and stared transfixed at the beautiful volunteer.
My favorite fairytale then, and now at sixteen holds a special place in my heart, Cinderella. Most girls love Prince Charming because he rides in to save the day on his trusty steed. Or their favorite part is where Cinderella outshines her ugly step sisters at the ball. Not me.
I guess if it were easy, Pulitzer Prize winning books would line every shelf at Barns and Noble. Yesterday I wasted an another day tweaking stuff. From updating profiles on about a dozen social sites, fixing a few snags on my blog, and running security updates on my laptop about the only writing I accomplished was updating passwords. There were no hot bodice ripping or bloody murder scenes to be had, nope all techno geek stuff.
Geesh…
But here’s the thing, when you get errors, electronic housekeeping is a must. If you want someone, anyone, to read your blog or book you must be visible. Part of all this cleaning is to Google a few sites, including yours. See what pops. Find out where your rank. Don’t become discouraged, become informed.
When was the last time you posted something to Reddit.com, researched delicious.com, checked out trends on Yahoo.com, set up a Google alert or ran or checked your SEO (search engine optimization) or SERP (search engine results page) ranking?
I know all this takes time away from writing that break-out novel but is necessary. So take a day or get someone to do all this for you and make sure all your hard work pays off.
If you write just to see your thoughts in print, to read to your pet… never mind.
After posting this, I’m gonna write a paragraph. A fiction paragraph.
Getty Images
Well, I’m gonna try.
This afternoon I’m heading over to The Prompt and use her word Cinderella Prompt #59
Link closes 3/26/2015 11:59 PM North America – Eastern Standard Time
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