Quote For The Week

                                              

  if you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write.

                                                                                          - Martin Luther

Learning To Be Imperfect In Your Writing

                                                                                                                             

Uh...Perfectionist Much?

When you sit down to write a scene in your story, usually - without even giving much thought - you probably make your character do and say things that make sense...and rightfully so. But usually in books, characters and just human, and it's important that that is portrayed. 

I find, personally, that I like it when a character in a novel misunderstands something or responds with the wrong answer, it makes the character real to me, to know that he or she is a human...it makes that hero/heroine almost tangible, and that's something that I enjoy experiencing when I read. 

For example:  

 

 

Maria lifted her eyes slowly to meet her friend's gaze, "You know the book that you were reading earlier?"

 

Cassie cocked her head to one side, her blonde brows arching, "A Tale of Two Cities?" 

"No, the other one."

"You mean Great Expectations?" 

Maria nodded her head slowly, "Yeah, that one, you sounded so intrigued by it...maybe that's the one you should do your essay on, the way you were ranting about it sounds like it would be a good choice."

  

...You see what I'm saying? The above would sound more general and blunt if it were just:

 

Maria lifted her eyes, "You know that book you were reading?"

 

"Great Expectations?"

 

"Yeah, that one."

 

 

By writing Cassie's assumption that her friend was talking of another book makes her seem a little more realistic...a little more there. And it also raises questions in the reader. Is Cassie more interested in A Tale of Two Cities? Why? And depending on the before and after context more questions will arise in the reader.

 

This was of course a simple example, but you can do so much with this "non-perfectionist" approach. Why not add a touch of humor?  Maybe a little original one-liner? Or perhaps a bit of historical information to bring more awareness to the reader? 

It's time to drop the perfectionist and let your characters be creatively...imperfect. 😉

~ Lydia R. Sherren