Tics and Trademarks, Part 1

As I've recently gotten back into the habit of writing (college is fiercely demotivational, I've discovered), I've taken to reading over some of my old projects in the hopes of reviving them. I have noticed several recurring themes in my writing that could be labeled "tics" by detractors and "trademarks" by kinder souls. These got me thinking about characteristics I've noticed in other writers' styles and how well executed or cliche they can be. (Occasionally, when I'm bored, I'll go to TV Tropes and look at the various entries on character development and pray that I don't follow them too closely in my own writing. Also, if you've never been to TV Tropes, it's a virtual compendium of "tricks of the trade" for us reality-makers. The elaboration of literally every possible way a story has been/can be written is amusing, dead-on, informative and sometimes disheartening when you realize that the adage "nothing is new under the sun" is accurate. Check it out!)

Anyway, without further ado, I give you the first in a shortlist of narrative tics I've either noticed or suffer from, personally:

1. The Hair, the Eyes. Anything. Pick a Feature.

Some authors spend a lot of time describing a character's physical attributes and refer to them repeatedly throughout the book. (Take J.K. Rowling, for instance. She refers to Harry's green eyes and Ron's freckles a great deal throughout the series.) Often, writers can get carried away with describing their protagonists such that readers are lost in paragraphs with more adjectives than nouns. On the other hand, some writers offer little to no detail about a character's appearance, save one or two features. I fall more in the second category than the first, preferring to leave the general physical attributes up to the reader's imagination. (Some people get crazy with the details...regal cheekbones, thin and delicate rosy lips, gently curving ears, an upturned but aristocratic nose, a strong chin, bushy and brooding eyebrows...It's a bit dictatorial and excessive, in my opinion.) The line between over-writing and aptly describing is sometimes a tricky one to toe, particularly for those of us who eschew heavy description. Fortunately, there are nice people who post helpful articles on the interwebs on just this topic. Click here for a great tutorial on character illustration from the Bookshelf Muse.

While I've been told I'm a bit too light on details, there is one feature I never fail to describe. I am a sucker for eyes. Not only are they beautiful, but they're also incomparably expressive. A person can communicate tremendous emotion in just one glance, especially when words fail. In my own writing, I supplement dialogues with descriptions of what the characters' eyes are saying. It makes the conversation more real, to me. I hate to be pedestrian and say that the eyes are the windows to the soul (aside: according to some, they're the doors), but I do believe they can reveal a lot about a personality. Example:

"The way he looked at me was as though he were surprised to be staring so deeply into my eyes. As though he didn't expect me to let his gaze rest so near. Normally, there's a modicum of restraint when it comes to another's eyes when you meet for the first time. You adopt that polite level of gaze intensity that penetrates just beyond the iris but leaves the person the privacy of his or her soul to dance gently inside the pupil. That didn't happen. It felt much more like he was looking into me with the force of his abilities and was either surprised that I offered no resistance or mystified that he couldn't help but do it."

Eyes. They're powerful stuff. If you don't think that's realistic, then maybe I'm the only one who sees the world that way. And I'm not being poetic. That quote is from my diary.

Look out for my next post in this series! Below, tell me what feature you like to describe.


The Awesome Points Game! Or, "How Good Are You At Spotting Obscure References To Things Kelsey Likes?"


This time, there are four awesome points for the person who identifies the two references I've made. They're rather subtle, which is why they are worth two points each. Good luck!

The Story of Stories, Or My Philosophy on Writing for Anyone Who Cares

My writing career began on a whim. I was ten years old and despised writing in school. I hated essays, papers and creative promptings; it was easily my least favorite subject and certainly my worst. It's not that I disliked expressing myself (anyone who knows me will die laughing at that notion), or even that I wasn't an exceptionally imaginative child. I was, however, and still am outrageously independent and did not appreciate being told what to do or how to do it. Write a story in first person about your favorite Christmas memory? NO! And back off, man, this is my imagination! One day, however, there was a story in my head that wasn't fulfilling enough to act out, so I took a pencil and changed my life forever.

Writing began as a way for me to engage my ever-churning creativity, but it quickly evolved into a mechanism by which I explored myself and the world. Whereas I once wrote solely for enjoyment, I now write to make sense of reality, pose questions and search for answers. To be honest, I think that's what stories should be - devices that exercise the heart and mind as well as the imagination. It's what separates books from literature, in my opinion. A good book offers a rousing story and a creative escape from one reality to another. Yet, the reader remains primarily a fanciful observer and is only invested in the tale on a slightly emotional level, depending upon how attached he is to the storyline and characters. Literature, on the other hand, confronts the reader's core beliefs, principles, deepest emotions and view of the world and forces him to compare what he knows to what he's experiencing through the story. In effect, the fictional world bleeds through the pages and inspires some level of analysis, re-evaluation and wonder. That is what I try to write. ("Try" being the operative word. But, hey, I'm developing.)

That being said, I'm no literature snob. And I'm also no Dostoevsky. I like a good romp of a story just as much as anyone, and I like writing for fun just as much as the rest of my writer friends. And, in the end, that's what makes me open my laptop and stare at a blinking cursor in Word for hours until sentences magically start streaming from my fingers: the fun of it. Creation. Narration. Discovery. Being in control of every detail, interaction, emotion and event of an entire world. I am Author, hear me roar! There's nothing quite like it. When I manage to weave the strands of literature into my writing, I'm over the moon. 


How about you? What's your take on the art of storytelling? Why do you write? 

I See Your Madness and Raise You My Glass

If you're reading this, chances are you fancy yourself a writer. (If you aren't reading this, I can call you a cactus-faced fish fingers and custard eater and you'd never know.) You probably loved books as a kid and fell into writing because of your boundless imagination, after which the art of creating worlds and characters grabbed you by the soul and refused to relinquish you. As someone who's been writing fiction and poetry for over a decade, I greet you as a comrade.

Writing is a highly rewarding pursuit, but it's also frustrating, draining and ultimately lonely. As word artists, we authors transcribe the canter, breath, pulse and spirit of the world around us into pieces of our imaginations and souls that the rest of society calls "stories." The act of writing is intensely personal and beautiful as we choose to share our intimate labors with the potentially critical and frightening outside world. Family and friends don't quite understand our introspection, quirkiness or craziness, which isolates us even more. Fortunately, however, there are people out there who are just as insane as we are: other writers.

Let's face it, folks: we need each other for sanity's sake. Who else but another writer could say, "Oh my gosh, I read my drafts in a British accent, too!" without being sarcastic? Or congratulate someone for writing a paragraph in two hours? Only a writer understands a writer. When we meet up to discuss our field, we laugh and commiserate.

And that's the purpose of this blog. It's a virtual support group. For me. And you, I guess, since you've got that look on your face.

Before we get to the laughing and commiserating, there are a few things you should know about me.

1. I like pie.
2. I make references to TV shows and movies all the time.
3. I've already made two references. If you can name them, you get awesome points.
4. Awesome points are highly collectible and used as currency in many parallel universes.
5. Actual value of awesome points varies depending upon inflation and points are non-transferable. Sorry.

But seriously.

1. I write mostly fantasy, but I've dabbled in young adult fiction, science fiction, non-fiction and historical fiction.
2. I also write poetry and music.
3. I'm currently working on a sequel to my first novel (unpublished, but maybe one day...) as well as a new novella concept. Part of the reason I started this blog was to force myself to write more consistently. My rationale is that you lot will comment on my witty and relevant posts about the writing process and therefore inspire me to slog through the writer's block. Which reminds me...
4. I won't be posting portions of my works-in-progress. This blog is about writing, not about showcasing my stuff. I generally don't let people read unfinished drafts, anyway. And finally...
5. Agree with something I say? Have something to add? Advice to give? Leave me a comment! This blog's supposed to be interactive.

Welcome to the insanity that is my mind. I'll leave you with a quote I think sums up what it means to be a writer:

"I reject your reality and substitute my own."
- Adam Savage