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First off, Atlanta has been in the grips of Dragon*Con this weekend, so
that's 100,000 people attending their favorite convention of the year.
Some of my favorite writers are there. Two of my favorite bands are
there. Dozens, if not hundreds, of my friends are there. I know they're
having a wonderful time! One day, I might go myself, but that's a way
bigger crowd than I can deal with. I can barely manage the local stores
during the holiday shopping season, LOL!
August was a hot month down here in Georgia. Overly humid too, even for
here. Our household dehumidifier has a two-gallon container
bucket--that sucker had to be emptied every two or three hours.
Usually, it gets full every six hours or so. That's a lot of water in
the air. I know that I should just set the machine up to pump the
condensation outside--it has a pump with a hook-up for a hose built
in--but that would mean drilling a hole in the floor and running the
hose under the house, then through a brick wall to reach the outside.
This house has an uncomfortably tiny crawlspace under it, too. I'm
reluctant to go in there because it's such a cramped space.
So if I wanted to write a story about someone crawling around in a
cramped, hot, humid location--well, I've got that experience going for
me. (Grin)
That's another example of taking experiences from your own life and
using them in your writing. My imagination can turn that crawlspace
into a tunnel in a cave, or a collapsed building, or part of a prison's
escape route, or a thousand other things. I know about the spiders and
their webs, lizards, snakes, bats, mold and mildew, the darkness, the
claustrophobia, the pain of banging your head on the roof, the
fear of being trapped in a space too small to back out of, and so on.
But there is always light at the end of this particular tunnel, LOL!
Your life is greater than the sum total of its parts, your experiences,
your observations, and your sensory impressions. All of that goes into
your toolbox, so to speak, to add more flavor to your writing.
Everything is grist for your mill. When you write a story, you always
have to consider how to insure your reader becomes immersed in the
tale. Not only the sights and sounds, but the smells and the feel of
touching something on your stage. That's part of your set dressing.
That stuff is just as important as the costumes and props your
characters use. Every single detail like that you add to a story makes
it easier for your readers to invest in your characters and plot. They
bring more life into the narrative. They bring your reader into the
story on a more personal level. That's the difference between a good
story and a great story--or at least, one of the differences. Let's see
how this would work, shall we?
Example one:
The prisoner crawled through the escape tunnel he'd found underneath
the drain cover of his cell. It was a tight squeeze. "Ouch," he said as
he bumped his head on the roof of the cramped crawlspace. "The roof is
getting lower-" he said. "I hope I don't get stuck."
Example two:
"It feels like I've been crawling on my belly for hours," said Prince
Rupert. It's only been half an hour since I found
the drain cover in my cell was loose enough to pry up,
he thought. The roof is getting lower, too.
The rough-cut surface of the tunnel's roof had long since ripped jagged
tears in the prince's tunic along his back and shoulders, and his
leggings were likewise shredded from the rocky floor. Age-old grime
caked his clothes now. Every movement made clouds of choking dust
cloud the dank air of the cramped crawlspace. The former prisoner
sneezed, almost gagging in the damp air. "There must be half a
century's worth of mold, and who knows what else, growing down here,"
he whispered to himself. He could feel rivulets of slowly drying blood
dripping off his back and knees onto the damp stone of the tunnel.
Cobwebs and spiders lay in wait along every hard-won yard of the escape
tunnel. "Ouch," he said as
he bumped his head on the roof of the cramped crawlspace. "The roof is
getting lower still-" he added. "I hope I don't get stuck." Despair and
desperation brought a fearful quaver to his whispers. And the darkness
went on forever, seemingly unending...
Now, Dear Reader, which example makes you want to keep reading? The
more you give your reader, the better they will enjoy your work.
All right, it's about time I shut up and let y'all get to reading the eighth issue of Aphelion of 2018! Enjoy!
Dan
ON
THE COVER
Title: VISTA's infrared view of the Orion Nebula
Photo Credit: SO/J. Emerson/VISTA
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