'writing is easy' by steve martin.
3 Apr 2003 10:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cimorenei only regret that this article does not have attached to it a message board a la that at "elijah wood is v v gay" for idiots to show us that they don't get the joke. the funniest thing about it is that i have seen essentially these arguments advanced in all seriousness by people who say that their characters are NOT mary sues and so and so did TOO steal from them by using the name 'marissa' and their writing is SO very good and descriptive and besides who needs description anyway and besides mommy liked it.
Nothing will make your writing soar more than a memorable character. If there is a memorable character, the reader will keep going back to the book, picking it up, turning it over in his hands, hefting it, and tossing it into the air. Here is an example of the jazzy uplift that vivid characters can offer:
You are now on your way to creating a memorable character. You have set him up as being a guy, and with that come all the reader's ideas of what a guy is. Soon you will liven your character by using an adjective:
This character, the red guy, has now popped into the reader's imagination. He is a full-blown person, with hopes and dreams, just like the reader. Especially if the reader is a red guy. Now you might want to give the character a trait. You can inform the reader of the character trait in one of two ways. First, simply say what that trait is--for example,"but this red guy was different from most red guys, this red guy liked frappés." The other is rooted in action--have the red guy walk up to a bar and order a frappé, as in:
Once you have mastered these two concepts, vivid character writing combined with adjectives, you are on your way to becoming the next Shakespeare's brother. And don't forget to copyright any ideas you have that might be original. You don't want to be caught standing by helplessly while your familiar "red guy" steps up to a bar in a frappé commercial.
Nothing will make your writing soar more than a memorable character. If there is a memorable character, the reader will keep going back to the book, picking it up, turning it over in his hands, hefting it, and tossing it into the air. Here is an example of the jazzy uplift that vivid characters can offer:
"Some guys were standing around when in came this guy."
You are now on your way to creating a memorable character. You have set him up as being a guy, and with that come all the reader's ideas of what a guy is. Soon you will liven your character by using an adjective:
"But this guy was no ordinary guy, he was a red guy."
This character, the red guy, has now popped into the reader's imagination. He is a full-blown person, with hopes and dreams, just like the reader. Especially if the reader is a red guy. Now you might want to give the character a trait. You can inform the reader of the character trait in one of two ways. First, simply say what that trait is--for example,"but this red guy was different from most red guys, this red guy liked frappés." The other is rooted in action--have the red guy walk up to a bar and order a frappé, as in:
"What'll you have, red guy?"
"I'll have a frappé."
Once you have mastered these two concepts, vivid character writing combined with adjectives, you are on your way to becoming the next Shakespeare's brother. And don't forget to copyright any ideas you have that might be original. You don't want to be caught standing by helplessly while your familiar "red guy" steps up to a bar in a frappé commercial.
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(no subject)
Date: 3 Apr 2003 09:07 am (UTC)(please tell me it is actually brittney - since i'm not entirely sure and man, that would be embarassing)
Re:
Date: 3 Apr 2003 02:34 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 3 Apr 2003 09:10 am (UTC)Re:
Date: 3 Apr 2003 02:36 pm (UTC)