![]() In Greek mythology, a Titan named Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to mankind, allowing civilization to blossom. We can do the same for our writing, filching a little of the heat from somebody else to help our own work flourish. The good news is that, unlike Prometheus, we probably won’t end up chained to a rock with an eagle eating our liver every day for eternity.
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![]() Occasionally I’m writing a scene that begins to feel like a cheap sock-puppet show (no disrespect to PBS or any puppet-friendly network). The characters may argue or banter, but because they do nothing but speak, the narrative thins out and becomes less palpable. It takes on the one-dimensionality of a fast sketch, rather than the flesh-and-blood tangibility I had been going for. The people become talking heads, or, if they’re alone, they walk through a gray landscape where little of their world assumes a form. Other times, I may read a book whose world is too tangible. Some authors catalogue every detail in a scene—the woodwork of an office doorway, the names of volumes on a lawyer’s shelf, the thirteen toys in a store window. The relentless listing overwhelms me and jumbles my sense of a scene, as if the characters were lost in a hoarder’s house. I’m guilty of this in my own writing sometimes, too. The solution is a reasonable balance of description to create the impression of a scene. Here is the strategy that has helped me: |
AboutAnthony Otten has published stories in Jabberwock Review, Valparaiso Fiction Review, Wind, Still: The Journal, and others. He has been a finalist for the Hargrove Editors' Prize in Fiction. He lives in Kentucky. Recent Posts:
Why I'm Choosing the Catholic Church The Struggle to Stay Real as Writers and Humans When People Stopped Being Interesting to Write About How to Avoid God, Unsuccessfully 3 Ways to Use History in Your Fiction Who's Afraid of Death? Jesus and The "Illegals" The Hardest Command Grasping the Resurrection Radical Fairness Story Published The King of Outsiders When Your Idol Falls Our Not-Guilty Verdict Nobody Dies for a Lie Would You Be The Doorman? Judge Not Publication News What is a Blessing? Real Obedience is Love Jesus was Inevitable The Death of Envy What God Really Wants Submission and Query Resources for Writers Hearing His Voice The World Overcome Honestly, God: Praying Our True Feelings When God Gives Us What We Want Killing Isaac Archives
September 2017
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