Consider this experiment along the lines of An Experiment in Writing – Part 92: Abstract to Distinct (the devil’s in the details. so’s your story). It’s similar except now we’re dealing more with abstract to distinct specific to characters in your story.
Yes, I briefly mention using this technique to create a setting or open a scene, and most tools are known by their function, not necessarily by their shape. I mean, have you ever seen a power hammer lying around and immediately thought, “That’d make a great way to drive nails”?
Probably not.
Characters, settings, institutions, groups, whatever, they or it can be universal, typical, or individual.
Consider Universal as Abstract. It’s everybody, everything, whatever there is, it’s there. “All ants have six legs” is a universal statement.
“This group of ants are red.” is a typical statement because we’re creating a subgroup or subclass and explaining how it’s different from the Abstract. We’re on our way to Distinct.
“Joseph noticed one red ant waving its antennae more than the others, and it seemed the others paused as if paying attention, evaluating this one as most people would evaluate a lunatic on a soapbox at a busy intersection, and moving on.”
The above statement is an example of the individual. We’ve gone from universal (all ants) to typical (red ants) to one ant (antennae waving). By doing so, we’ve made this one ant stand out from the rest. We may be foreshadowing, we may be providing character revelation, we may be scene setting, whatever, we’re drawing the reader from the Abstract to the Distinct, and in doing so we create an expectation in the reader that something will come of this focusing.
Don’t disappoint them.
Another useful use of typical is in stereotyping or classing an individual with a group or a group with some singular element (which is also a wonderful character revelation technique). “S/he’s uber-rich. What did you expect? They’re all like that” is a judgment statement. Whoever’s making that statement is sharing a lot more about themselves than they are about the character they’re describing.
The last thing to cover is the slide from typical to individual. First describe the typical then describe how the individual differs from the typical so the individual stands out from “the crowd.” This is what I did with the antennae-waving ant.
Enjoy.
Think I’m onto something? Take a class with me, schedule a critique of your work, or buy me a coffee.
Think I’m an idiot? Let me know in a comment.
Either way, we’ll both learn something.
Get copies of my books because it’s a nice thing to do, you care, you can follow along, and I need the money. My latest is my trauma recovery fantasy Chrysalis.
Wilderness House Literary Review EIC Steve Glines and I (Senior Fiction Editor) hold monthly open chats with authors interested in a) writing for us, b) improving their craft in general, and/or c) increasing their chances of being accepted by other markets.
Meetings are held via Zoom on the last Friday of each month from 9-10amET.
So, want to know how to write for us? Want to know what gets our attention? Want to know how to write better for whatever market you’re interested in? Join us for our next “Meet the Editors” Zoom session. Seats limited! Sign up and talk with us. We’re relatively easy going and fun to be with.
Last item, finding these experiments useful? Strengthen my ego and link/friend/follow me.
No Responses