Ah, if only I had a reason to wear something like that . . .
Tag: creativity
All That Remains – What If I Was Nothing
I came across this song on YouTube and thought it was cute, so I checked out this band. Their latest album is really angry death metal, with songs titled wonderful things like, “Fuck Love” and “Everything’s Wrong”.
I couldn’t help but think with some amusement, “I guess they got a divorce after all.”
Note: I don’t actually know anything, so don’t quote me. I’m just being silly.
Thank you for sharing my work!
Inspiration
E Nomine – Espiritu Del Aire
Thank you for sharing my work!
Inspiration
Thank you for sharing my work!
Matchbox 20 – Downfall
Thank you for sharing my work!
Foolish Fool
I am a fool.
But we already knew that.
I am currently transcribing my WIP, and I decided to adopt a fairly intense pace of one chapter a day. This is my least favorite part of my writing process, so the faster I get it over with, the better.
Then I went and did something stupid: I let myself get talked into writing a second story at the same time.
The Reddit thing was a fluke. When I wrote and posted The Suit, I was the first response to an obscure prompt, and I figured that I’d get a few upvotes then move on. Over the next several hours, the prompt itself blew up BIG.
I was not, by any stretch of the imagination, in the running to be the most popular response. In fact, I seem to get downvoted a surprising amount, which amuses me more than anything else. However, the people who liked my story, seemed to REALLY like my story.
Including my husband. Which cinched it.
Since I already did the legwork to establish a solid universe, I decided to keep pursuing the story. And you know what I hate passionately? Authors who post three-quarters of a story before abandoning it. I am committed to finishing.
Now, between the kids and writing, I don’t seem to be doing much else with my days.
I’m worried that I may have outdone myself with this one.
Thank you for sharing my work!
Character Descriptions
The other day I asked my husband, “What the heck does it mean when people describe eyes as ‘almond-shaped’?”
So he pulled up some references on drawing eyes and explained the differences, before grabbing some photographs for me to guess which shape the eyes would be.
I proved that I will never be a visual artist when I described them all as, “eye-shaped.”
A lot of writers describe characters like they’re sitting next to a sketch artist, who wants to know just how wide their forehead is in relation to the height of their nostrils and all that, but personally I’m not visually oriented enough to pull that off. I like to joke that I would make a terrible witness to a crime, because my description would be along the lines of, “He looked like an evil horse, only with fish eyes . . . no, I haven’t the slightest clue how tall he was.”
When I look at someone, I don’t notice many physical details; I think of them in metaphorical and emotional terms instead. That’s why I think that all eyes are ‘eye-shaped,’ but some of them are more fish-like than others.
Everyone is going to picture something different when they visualize my horsey villain, but the mental image will tickle the fancy far more than “long face and wide-set eyes.” I care more about amusement than pedantry when it comes to my craft.
The next time you write a character description, don’t try to force Brad Pitt’s face on all your readers — it’s okay to step back, paint with broad strokes, and say something different. Let your readers choose for themselves what they want to imagine. A story that asks for a little thought in return will be far more engaging than one that spoon-feeds every detail.
By Autumn Rain 