Wednesday Writerly Wisdom

During a phone call, my editor at Loveswept told me she wished I'd teach a seminar on pacing. I laughed. Teach a seminar to whom? Cats lined up on a sofa? I mean, what do I know about pacing? Well, as a mother of 3, I will admit to pacing the floor until the kids got home during those teenaged years, but I don't think that's what she had in mind.

Pacing is continually moving the story forward and not getting bogged down in the woe-is-me emotional repetition of romances of years ago. You know the type. In fact, many still exist. Some writers get so into the sharing of emotions, the rehashing of past feelings, the angst of "gee, I feel this way, but I really shouldn't" that--although their prose is lovely--it's dragged on for two or more pages and the story's pacing  has come to a screeching halt.

Meanwhile the reader is thinking make something happen!!!

There must be a blend of dialog, action, character's inner thought or narration, character's reactions, and inner dialog. I'm sure there's a formula somewhere. But I'm individualistic enough to think we all use our own blend. The difficult task is finding that perfect blend that our readers want.

I'm strong on dialog and reactions. In fact, I usually write that first. One person says something and another reacts. This is my first step in crafting a scene. Then I add in movement, both large and small. Walking across a room, for example. Pouring a drink and sipping from the cup or glass.

I add those all-important signature movements for a character. We've all got little physical habits we do when we're talking or thinking something over. Right? Cracking our knuckles...pushing our glasses up if we wear them...fiddling with our hair...pinching the bridge of our nose...staring off. Small movements like this make the flat character more dimensional, because we're giving them typical human traits. Traits the reader might see in themselves, smile, nod, and think gee, I do the same thing. And that magic connection is made between the reader and the fictional character.

I add in narration and/or internal thoughts. While I strive for deeper emotion, I do this through word choice not by several paragraphs of character self-examination or recollections. These paragraphs are hardest for me to write. And they get written and rewritten many, many times until I can show and express whatever the emotion is in roughly four paragraphs.

I'm slowly learning to remember to include the physical reactions to narrative, too. The skin crawling, the heartbeat hammering in the ears, the mouth suddenly gone dry. So to make this part powerful, I might spend a couple days on this tiny section. Days spent consuming mass quantities of coffee and chocolate.

Because, here's the thing...when you stop the action, the moving forward of your story to tell the reader how the character is feeling or struggling, your story STOPS!

It's not going anywhere.

But your reader might.

Keep the pace moving or you're going to lose your reader's interest. And they might not give you the chance to get it back.

HONORING DIFFERENCES IN THE SEXES

Some years ago, society went through a phase where it was politically incorrect to acknowlege any difference in the sexes. A premise spawned from the thinking "women can do anything a man can." If fact, many women--including myself, for a period--were determined to do whatever their male counterparts did.

In my case, I learned to read blueprints and operate machinery in the heavy metals industry. I was a card-carrying member of the IAM, International Machinists Union. Steel-toed shoes and denim aprons were my fashion statement items. Slivers of steel were embedded under my skin, and I could lift heavy pieces of iron along with Joe and Nathan. Not that I necessarily wanted to compete with a man, but I wanted to earn what he was earning. And I did.

I also got my bachelors in English and eventually changed professions, becoming a technical writer. Throughout those thirty-plus years, I studied men. Hey, someone had to do it!!!

What did I learn? Men are so wonderfully different from women--and I highly respect the differences. For one, our bodies are delightfully dissimilar. And I smile widely as I write that statement.

And for another--and this is especially important for writers--we think and speak differently.

"How was work today?" Alice kissed her husband as he pulled off his grey tie.

"Good."

"Did you get that project done or didn't your partner come through with those research figures you needed?"

"No."

"No, what?" Alice waved her hand. "You didn't get the project done or Carl didn't get his reseach figures in?"

His head and shoulders disappeared behind the refrigerator door. "Where's the beer?"

You see, women like to find out things. Men, on the other hand, like to ignore. That's why if a woman suspects her husband is cheating on her, she will turn into the best private eye on the planet searching for clues. That's also why a man will ignore his discarded shoes and dirty socks on the living room floor, and a woman will pick them up.

There are basic personality differences between the sexes. Sometimes these differences endear the other person to us. At others, they drive us freakin' insane! Don't 'cha love it?

A woman will see another woman wearing a pretty top and notice the color and style. She'll take note of the way the wearer's cinched in her waist with a wide, red stylish belt.

A man looks at the same woman wearing the same blouse and think, nice boobs.

It's how we're wired. And, folks, we're wired differently.

Make sure you remember that in your writing.

I've just finished judging a contest where writers failed to acknowlege those differences. One had a guy remarking how the cut of the heroine's dress made her look short and stocky, instead of emphazing her tiny waist. Men DON'T think that way. Not unless they're fashion designers. In fact, most men are too busy checking out your boobs and butt to notice the color of the dress. They are visual creatures, but only in relation to the body parts that turn them on--or the paint job on a classic car.

When something makes a woman angry, she will growl and talk about it for hours. A man says, "Screw it!" And he's done talking. But, make no mistake, he's stewing mentally over whatever's got his boxers in a twist.

We talk differently. Men often speak in grunts and groans and monosyllabic words. Not all, though, and this is where your characterization comes in. My husband, a retired English teacher and author, can out talk me any day. It's part of his character, based on his education, creativity level and interests.

Women notice details. Men notice what they want. Women are multi-taskers. Men are singularly focused.

Remember these differences as you write and your characters will ring true.