I love this advice a LOT. My weakness is (I think? It's hard to tell as I'm not very objecvtive about myself!) my first instinct is to write characters saying funny things and doing things in a blank space without any obvious signs of emotion or location. Editing is where I add emotion and, you know, tell people where the characters are by adding a bit of description (reluctantly - part of my weakness is cos I don't lik READING description but I have come to realise others do!).
I marvel at people who are good at a sense of place. Sarah Crossan is brilliant at this. I can always picture exactly where her characters are.
I agree that it's often a reflection of WE don't like as readers. I don't like lengthy description either. And I actually like a fair amount of 'tell' rather than 'show'. I love a montage!
Training montage ftw! And yes I love a bit of tell. A lot of my favourite authors do tell brilliantly.
My sense of place in writing is partly about my experience of place in the real world: I'm never very aware of surroundings so place is a vague thing for me.
It's great to read this! Like you, I find characters tricky to write. What this really highlights for me is how much pressure the world puts on writers (and everyone!) to conform: if MOST people work from the character outwards, then that's what should be. The Dolly Parton quote speaks beautifully as an antidote!
There is a lot of advice out there for authors. It can be overwhelming. Pretty much any way that works for you is the ‘right’ way. When I’m stuck, though, I do find writing advice useful to remind me to try a new angle or technique.
I love this advice a LOT. My weakness is (I think? It's hard to tell as I'm not very objecvtive about myself!) my first instinct is to write characters saying funny things and doing things in a blank space without any obvious signs of emotion or location. Editing is where I add emotion and, you know, tell people where the characters are by adding a bit of description (reluctantly - part of my weakness is cos I don't lik READING description but I have come to realise others do!).
I marvel at people who are good at a sense of place. Sarah Crossan is brilliant at this. I can always picture exactly where her characters are.
I agree that it's often a reflection of WE don't like as readers. I don't like lengthy description either. And I actually like a fair amount of 'tell' rather than 'show'. I love a montage!
Training montage ftw! And yes I love a bit of tell. A lot of my favourite authors do tell brilliantly.
My sense of place in writing is partly about my experience of place in the real world: I'm never very aware of surroundings so place is a vague thing for me.
I just happened to be reading and there I was! Thank you for the kind words! And you help me so much too!
It's great to read this! Like you, I find characters tricky to write. What this really highlights for me is how much pressure the world puts on writers (and everyone!) to conform: if MOST people work from the character outwards, then that's what should be. The Dolly Parton quote speaks beautifully as an antidote!
There is a lot of advice out there for authors. It can be overwhelming. Pretty much any way that works for you is the ‘right’ way. When I’m stuck, though, I do find writing advice useful to remind me to try a new angle or technique.