Saturday, July 16, 2011

The Little Details

Hi, folks! Short post this week. Lazy days of summer. Rained yesterday and it might rain today and I'm feeling so happy! I bought news glasses. I love new glasses. It makes the whole world look crisper.

Anyway, I tried on like 30 pair, enlisted the help of Bo -- the best accessorized person in the store, bemoaned the days when I went to a stylish boutique in Woodinville, WA for perfect glasses, and finally found a pair of glasses that looked like the ones I lost in the Gulf of Mexico last year. I'm am not one for reinventing the wheel.

What does this have to do with anything? Well, great writing is about the tiny details. I think about how my glasses express me and how they represent my personality. I like a dash of fun, mixed in with some smart cookie, and add to that a splash of capable.

So I'm way better at this accessorizing in writing than in real life. Details carve out the shape of your characters. I am totally aware of the stuff in their pockets, the clothes they like, the colors, the fabrics, even if my characters like buttons more or define themselves as zipper types. Great writing is in the details.

This week delve into these details. Make each detail a crisp representation of your characters. Think about this and come back for more next week.

Here is this week's doodle: Tree Sketch #1.



Here is quote of the week.

It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.
John Wooden

5 comments:

Faith Pray said...

Yay for new glasses that feel like you've known them for years! I miss my favorite glasses. The arms fell off, I colored in the flaked off copper patches with permanent marker. They kind of lost their panache after that. What does that say about a character who won't let go of a good thing? I love the tree picture. It is my favorite so far! Happy week to you!

Vijaya said...

Spot on. Post a picture, Molly.

Molly/Cece said...

I've never been addicted to any one pair of glasses but I do like the cat-eye shape. I think it says you are a keeper of good things and have been greatly influenced by the Velveteen Rabbit. :) I'm glad you love my tree. It's just a scribbly tree. My best tree doodle ever I gave to Janet Carey. It was an excellent doodle. Anyway double happy week to you!

Oh, Vijiya, I'm just sending up little prayers for you and your family. So much good stuff to come. I will post a picture when the glasses come back from the lab in a couple of weeks. My glasses always take weeks to make.

Janet Lee Carey said...

Thanks as always for the writing tips this week. I'm in rough draft and often don't get the finer details until I'm into the revision part. It's a rough sculpture now, but will later become unique in every detail (I hope).

Love your lines -- I like a dash of fun, mixed in with some smart cookie, and add to that a splash of capable--
Mayby pop that right into your bio??

Molly/Cece said...

i Janet, I'm a little different on first drafts, I usually come up with runs of details like 5 to 10 and just sort of list them out when they show up. Inevitably, I always narrow it down to two and then sort of suffer to choose one.

I will think about adding that line to my bio. It's one of those vibrating lines. Full of life.