By:
Drew Chial
When
I started writing, I was more concerned about what my characters were thinking
than what they were doing. I wrote uneventful chapters, where the lead spent
most of his time talking about his feelings. He rarely explored settings or
exchanged dialogue with other human beings. His conflict was internal, his
journey was cerebral, and his musings floated free from any kind of story
structure.
My
narrators weren’t passive observers, giving accounts of events as they
happened, they were philosophers whose ideas read more like blog entries than
stories. Their selfish nature was made apparent by an avalanche of I
feel statements.
After
some eye-opening criticism, my writing veered into another direction. I traded
narration for strict description, play by plays of what my characters said and
done. These stories read like screenplays converted from present tense into
past tense. While my writing improved, it felt like it was missing something.
Compensating
for my early first person sins, I’d let the plot reign over characterization.
At their worst, my descriptions were so devoid of emotion they read like crime
scene reports:
“One
armed protagonist entered the room, shortly after sunset. He fired several
rounds.”
My
leads had lost their edge. I tried to smuggle some of their attitude into the
dialogue, but it felt forced, especially when they weren’t sharing scenes with
characters worth confiding in. I didn’t want to resort to soliloquy, so I
tossed their clever musings into the waste bin.
It
took a while before I realized I wasn’t taking full advantage of the medium. I
was applying the limitations of movies to written stories, denying myself the
tools that set the format apart.
Whether
you’re writing in the first person or the third person, books let the reader
see inside your characters’ heads. The trick is figuring out when to show
what they’re thinking through their actions, and when to tell by getting
beneath their skin.
Sometimes
Telling is the Best way to Show
. .
.
Read the full article HERE!
~*~
If you
missed my writing & marketing tweets and retweets yesterday, here they are
again:
- What Does it Mean to Be Well-Published? - Where Writers Win http://ow.ly/KlXgq
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- Behind the Mask: When to Reveal What a Character is Thinking | Drew Chial http://ow.ly/KlXtV
- Wendell Berry on Solitude and Why Pride and Despair Are the Two Great Enemies of Creative Work | Brain Pickings http://ow.ly/KlXHM
- Don’t Say I Didn’t Warn You: Women Writers, Women's Books http://ow.ly/KlXO8 5 things to know before you send out your manuscript.
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- Dear Teen Writer: Avoid the Perils of Perfection - A WOW Wednesday Post by Diana Renn http://ow.ly/Km0wG
- Writer Unboxed » Of Clams & Editors http://ow.ly/Km3ml
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- The 3 Building Blocks of a Blockbuster Blog: @ProBlogger http://ow.ly/Km3A4
BookMarketingBuzzBlog : Time To Pen A Sequel http://ow.ly/Km3CK- 7 Steps to Successfully Get Endorsements http://ow.ly/Km3KM
- Can This Be Over Already?: Confronting the Truth about Endings – Kobo Writing Life http://ow.ly/Km3Rj
- Time
to Publish? Take It Slow! -
PubSense Summit™ PubSense Summit™ http://ow.ly/Km4el - Top Ten Things You Need to Know About Characters | http://ow.ly/Km4j3
- Anne R. Allen's Blog: How NOT to Sell Books: Top 10 Social Media Marketing No-Nos for Authors http://ow.ly/KmmKG
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