  Romance/Love
This week: Edited by: fyn  
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“It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.”---John Wooden
“Every man's life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another.”--- Ernest Hemingway
“Excellence is in the details. Give attention to the details and excellence will come.”---Perry Paxton
“The great successful men of the world have used their imaginations... they think ahead and create their mental picture, and the go to work materializing that picture in all its details, filling in here, adding a little there, altering this a bit and that a bit, but steadily building / steadily building.”---Robert Collier
“Discipline is based on pride, on meticulous attention to details, and on mutual respect and confidence. Discipline must be a habit so ingrained that it is stronger than the excitement of the goal or the fear of failure.”---Gary Ryan Blair
Ah...details...the myriad little essences that bring writing to life! I am Fyndorian and I'm please to be bringing you this edition of the Romance/Love Newsletter. |
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Details. Writing, description--the showing of all those little details that elevate writing to a higher level and make characters, places, emotions and actions become touchable, smellable, --memorable and real.
One way to help a writer create vivid details is to pull bits and pieces of details from real life and, metaphorically speaking, toss 'em in a colander and strain out what doesn't work and keep the 'good stuff' to mix into your scenes and characters.
We had our annual Christmas party this Saturday past. I greeted something like sixty people coming in through my front door--most of whom I knew, but some, I did not. Some were hugged enthusiastically, some were perfunctorily hugged and some were greeted with a handshake. Why the difference? Why did I greet some one way and others differently? Why would a character react thusly? I found myself thinking about that as people poured through my front door. And as I did, I noticed details that I otherwise might not have.
I noticed the cloying fragrance one woman must have bathed in that just about cut my breathing off mid gasp. I noticed the scent of Old leather that one of the gentlemen wore and made a mental note that I really needed to get Ken some for Christmas! I found myself noticing that one woman was swathed in fur and that the sleet falling outside had coated her fur with what looked like diamonds when seen in the candlelight in our living room. I also noted how it smelled musty-damp as I brought it into the spare bedroom with an armful of other coats. It still smelled better than that of the cloying-perfume woman!
Details to resurrect at some future time. The pang of disappointment at realizing that certain folks hadn't made it to the party. The way the fireplace full of applewood scented the family room and seemed to subtly change or subdue the what I eventually realized was an overdose of Giorgio.
Voices. Twangs and accents. Why, in the noisy rooms, some folks still talked softly, yet were easily understood, while others seemed to raise their voices to grating and almost painful levels. The choices of subject matter being discussed within the varying clumps of people was something else I became acutely aware of. At one point, my other half made a comment that I was in 'writer mode.' he could see me mentally filing away 'stuff' for future reference. He thinks it is funny that I do that even while I'm having a good time and am involved in all that's going on around me. He also knows that if i disappear, it will be because I'm quickly jotting down notes of things I don't want to forget. He knows not to toss the odd paper with a snippet of a thought scrawled across it.
At some point during the evening I kissed my other half who'd been munching on apple caramel potato chips. My immediate thoughts were 1) Mmmmm...apple-caramel kisses and 2) There's a poem in that somewhere. Details.
When the DJ started the music and then sang 'our song', I noticed as we were dancing that I was almost crying. I was that happy. Ken squeezed me tighter and was grinning his head off. Actions and reactions spinning about as much as we did across the dance floor. (Oh, and a night of dancing barefoot to country music on a concrete floor leads to very sore leg muscles the next day. Not sure, but I think it was the 'Cotton-Eyes Joe' that did me in!) Details.
Christmas parties have a lovely habit of bringing out the romance in people. Watching a video someone taped of us dancing, I was able to see just how focused we were on each other, the way our eyes connected and the goofy grins on both of our faces. An older couple moved slowly, in practiced moves perfected in over fifty years of dancing together. A fairly new couple swaying in the 'I don't know how to dance, but I'll dance with you because I know you want me to and if I don't dance with you, I'll be in big trouble' sway. Another youngish couple tangled up in a big, comfy chair totally alone in a room full of people. The DJ starts singing 'City Sidewalks' and every spontaneously begins singing along. The couple in the chair come up for air. The older couple's eyes seem to glaze over as if remembering a Christmas past. Some sing strongly, others sing under their breaths. Couples all seemed to join hands, smiling as they sang. Details.
Details are important, regardless of the type of writing being written, but in writing romance, in communicating the emotions and settings it somehow, seems even more important. The bringing alive a historic piece and giving it life is all in the myriad details. And it is always in the details, the essence that creates in the reader a sense of involvement and caring about the characters. it is in the details, the descriptions, that the difference is made between telling a story and showing a glimpse, a moment, an emotion or an event.
Every day we are surrounded by those moments that are perfect for adding a richness, a truth and a validity to our writing, if we but take the step aside and notice them.
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Last newsletter I offered a contest which, sadly, only one person entered. The entry has a lot of potential, so perhaps some of you might review it and offer suggestions.
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An awesome poem that takes details to a new level!
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inspired by SMS’s “Details, Darling” written for Helen's contest
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Just the beginning, but oh, what a ride!
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"Mem'ries gently tickling thoughts;"
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Sometimes, one single detail a story makes....
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What can I say....details!
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"There was a moment of silence, the “still point of the turning world,"
"What was the purpose of putting on the façade that things were the same?
And this last...sent to me to read by a friend....details layered, with multiple meanings from the mistress of well written details!
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Got some interesting feedback on what to write future newsletters on, and I thank you for the input!
From last time.....
from Legerdemain 
Fyn! Fabulous interview with a much-admired author. Excellent job, you asked all the questions I would ask. *smile* Well done!
Leger~
Thanking you...you helped quite a bit!
from spidey  
Great Newsletter and great interview!
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed!
and from Lexi 
How exciting, Fyn! You covered some fabulous questions and got some interesting answers in return. Wow, you really did great for such short notice.
It was a lot of fun! Now if only I get some responses from other authors that I've contacted! |
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Romance/Love: December 12, 2007 Issue [#2119]
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