Imagination is Everything

For the record, I don't know all there is to know about writing. Lol. I don't think there's a writer alive who knows all there is to this craft. I do have nuggets of wisdom which might be unconventional, yet I believe them to be critical in the art of storytelling. In the last year I've mentored other writers (not all beginners), and my editor/honorary auntie Vicky, says that it's my ministry to help writers find their voice and their mojo. Maybe.

     I do attempt to keep my "students" from making the writing mistakes I've made myself, as well as keeping them from being typical in their writing. Resume building and name recognition are more important than making money at first, something it took me years to realize. The more acceptances from magazines, anthologies, etc., that a writer accumulates, the more money and fans he/she will have. Don't hustle backwards. 

      I tell the "students" to write something they'd like to read. I've read older stories of mine and been completely enthralled, as if the stories didn't spring from my soul or been created by me. Funny, right?

     There's a horrible phenomena which a lot of writers cling to, but which I think of as a waste of time and words. It happens in a majority of stories that I read, and I tend to skip over these parts because they're like watching paint dry. The thing I hate? The overly descriptive portraits of the characters, especially when they're appearance has zero to do with the story.

     "Her eyes were a blend of gray-green to go with her long blonde hair." So? Does she shoot death rays out of her eyes or strangle people with her hair? "She was a twenty-five year-old White woman, with freckles and red hair." And? If her race doesn't have anything to do with the story, why mention it? Are her freckles an exact match of the lost map of Atlantis or something? Then these descriptions are a waste of words, which may put the reader to sleep, or remind them of the red-haired, freckled woman at Starbucks who screwed up their order. Not good.

      We're supposed to bring readers into the worlds and stories we create, and then allow them to use the most precious commodity they possess; their imaginations. If the heroine is described by her sassy personality, or as petite or curvaceous, the reader then imagines them the way they'd like, making them whatever color/race they'd like. This allows those not typically depicted in most stories to make the character look like themselves. 

      I used the name 'Rosa' for a feisty, sexy character in a story. I described her curves and her attire, but I never described her skin tone or ethnicity. In 'Waiting for Carlita' I never described her other than being artsy, beautiful, and impatient. It worked, and to this day, whenever I ask a reader to describe Carlita, they describe someone who looks like them. Or so they've imagined...

       Word to the wise, don't waste words on unimportant things, and let the reader figure out how they want the characters to look and sound. I know, my approach is unconventional and atypical, but aren't we as writers supposed to be unique? Exactly...

Marlon S. Hayes is a poet, author, blogger, and writer, who is expanding his platforms and lengthening his resume...