Two pics...the steam level rises...

Writer's challenge:  Write an engaging scene for both pictures and articulate to your 

readers the obvious as well as the subtle differences between both pictures.

Although the couples in both pictures are almost in the exact same pose, the pictures evoke different emotions. At first glance, a viewer is going to see that the level of steam rises in the second picture. Don't be mislead by the obvious difference of skin and clothes. There is sweetness to the second picture just as there is desire in the first. It's the intensity and atmosphere that differ. Someone viewing the pictures with more than a quick glance will pick up on subtle differences as well as the subtle similarities.

Words also need to be able to communicate the same differences, subtle and otherwise, that the pictures convey.  There is more than a sweetness of love in the first picture and the heat of love in the second.

Heartthrobs and Heroes

...What is it about someone that pulls on our heart strings or makes the knees go weak...there is a strength of character and the way he looks, but also something more...be it a chivalrous act, a kind word, a smile...

In my page header named "Heartthrobs and Heroes" I have created a page where I capture pictures of guys that could represent or inspire male characters in a novel. As I discover pictures, I will add them to this permanent page.

One of my favorite pictures is this one of Joseph Gordon-Levitt and the late Heath Ledger. To me, this photo exudes "good friends" with a hint of mischief. I love the photo-booth style of the composition. In one of my novels (In process of course!), this picture inspired the relationship between a lead character's younger brother and the brother's best friend. (Please note: I am in search of the photographer's website to give them proper credit. If you have a link, I would appreciate the update.)

Click here for the guys that inspire our novels...

Friends: Joseph Gorden-Levitt and Heath Ledger

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

The Road Not Taken (photo courtesy of quotespictures.net)

The Road Not Taken

BY ROBERT FROST

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Developing Character Traits

While it is important to provide enough character traits that make a character become more than a cardboard image, it needs to be seamless with the story. As a reader, the following are a few of my personal pet peeves:

Pet Peeve #1: You don't have to download all of the physical characteristics of a character the minute they appear in your book. Fill the character in as you go along.  The same goes for a character's emotions as well as their personality traits. Let the reader get to know your character gradually. Weave the information into the story; don't bombard them with everything in one long paragraph.

Pet Peeve #2:  Unless her closet is a pivotal plot point, don't fall into the trap of spending the entire book on your heroine's closet. This is a book, it isn't an ad, you do not need to provide a detailed description of what the character is wearing in each of the scenes she appears in. Plus, you don't need to drop designer labels for every article of clothing. You are not writing Sex in the City and your character is not Sarah Jessica Parker, aka: Carrie Bradshaw. 

Pet Peeve #3: Do not use Hollywood actors and actresses to provide your reader with what your character looks like. This is lazy writing. Don't tell me a character looks like Gwyneth Paltrow. Weave into the story that she has classic blonde looks. When you tie your character to an actor or actress, you can also have the reader identify character traits from the actor that aren't part of your characters' personality. You're a writer, show some ability to describe your own character.

Pet Peeve #4: Accents are dangerous in the hands of the unskilled.  Yes people have accents but you have to be very careful how you "write out" what they are saying. If your reader is spending too much time trying to decipher the accent you are trying to convey, they are not enjoying the story.

Pet Peeve #5: Learn when to use contractions and when not to in a character's dialogue. Most people say "I'll go to the store." versus "I will go to the store.". Of course, if are you trying to convey a very formal person, then you may not want to use contractions. In the same line of thought, I hate reading dialogue where the author constantly drops the "g" from words. It absolutely drives me crazy. An example would be waitin' versus waiting. And last, but not least, please do not use "wanna" instead of "want to", unless your character is a two year old or extremely uneducated. This may just be my #1 cringe worthy "word".

Pet Peeve #6: How many times have you read about a petite heroine with unusually long legs? This falls into my mismatched body part pet peeve. As a reader I develop an image in my mind that represents the character that the author has described. If an author makes descriptions that don't happen in the real world or changes the descriptions of their characters as you read a book, it makes it hard to visualize, personalize and connect with the characters. Odd descriptions can often pull you out of a story. I've read books where the hair or the eye color of the character has changed and its not from contacts or hair dye but from lack of attention by the author to the characteristics of their characters. I also have a hard time when the authors select a cover photo for the book which doesn't look at all like the character they describe. Above I referenced petite heroines with unusually long legs. I know we often give females long legs for the men in the book to admire. But the combination of petite and long seems diametrically opposed unless the petite woman has no torso which doesn't sound attractive at all. In this instance, I would recommend to give her shapely legs. 

There are plenty of other pet peeves, but these are some that make me cringe or roll my eyes when I am reading.

i carry your heart with me.....by e.e. cummings

In the movie, "In Her Shoes", Cameron Diaz reads the poem "i carry your heart with me" by e.e. cummings creating a touching moment during the wedding scene. Although I had read this poem in high school English classes, it was not until it was presented in this movie did I discover how moving of a poem it is. Although the poem has been a favorite reading at weddings for many years, the movie contributed a renewed interest in the poem. 

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in)

By E.E. Cummings

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in

my heart)i am never without it(anywhere

i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done

by only me is your doing,my darling)

                                                      i fear

no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want

no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)

and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows

higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

If you selected to have a poem read at your wedding, framing the poem would be one way to treasure a memory from your special day...  

Framed Wedding Vows Or Poem Picture by SARAH & BENDRIX

Photo Journalism and Images in Black and White

Free Syrian fighters run for cover as a tank shell explodes on a wall during heavy fighting in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus on January 30, 2013 (Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)

I first saw this picture as a cropped version that had been modified to a black and white exposure on Pinterest.  The pin did not tell what the picture was of or the source. The picture had such impact that I searched out additional information and found the original colored photo as part of a series of photos on the crisis in Syria as posted by The DARKROOM which explores visual journalism. The pictures both in original format and in the modified format are provoking and powerful. They both reach out and create an emotional impact; they tell a story. I do feel that in its own way, the black and white version creates an additional impact that pulls the viewer into the picture even more. (Although, I admit to being a fan of black and white photography.)  By my looking further into this picture, it tells two stories. One is the impact change when a photo is cropped and adjusted to black and white. And the second story is the impact of photo journalism which tells the story of what is happening in the world around us.

The picture cropped and modified to black and white, as I first saw it.

W.H. Auden...one of my favorites

W. H. Auden 

(Per Wikipedia: Wystan Hugh Auden, who published as W. H. Auden, was an Anglo-American poet, born in England, later an American citizen, and is regarded by many critics as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century.)

One of the poems from Twelve Songs (sometimes known as Funeral Blues) was famously featured in the film Four Weddings and a Funeral.

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.
For nothing now can ever come to any good.