NaNoWriMo: Day Twenty-six
Word count: 38,841
Ever say something stupid, wish you could take it back? Noveling could be your playground. In chapters Sixteen and Seventeen, I began using italics to set passages aside for later evaluation by my Inner Editor, who has been drunk on some park bench for the past few weeks. Some of these sentences and paragraphs aren't necessarily plot-derailers, they're just incredibly out of character or cheesy. Following are a few quick notes on embarrassing, italics-causing, character development pitfalls I've discovered during my noveling adventure. Someone with a degree in English or creative writing could prescribe preexisting terminology for these. Since I only have a degree in excuses for not having a degree, I'll have to make stuff up.
General relative tea: The moment a character is conceived, he or she begins maturing and having tea parties with other characters. They live in subjective time, which passes faster than normal time, resulting in conversations on-stage that would seem "too early" for characters that have "just recently met". Italics!
Character attention disorder: Author leaves the room, but his fingers keep typing. Characters stand around and chat for two or three chapters. Most frequent during word-count marathons. Not author's fault. Italics!
Empathic interference: Characters leave the room, but the author keeps typing. Suddenly, everyone is hooked on 21st Century references, and thinking and speaking exactly alike. Italics! Also, may lead to...
Tourette's syndrome: Characters realize their world is fictitious, lacking real social consequences. Italics!
Ever say something stupid, wish you could take it back? Noveling could be your playground. In chapters Sixteen and Seventeen, I began using italics to set passages aside for later evaluation by my Inner Editor, who has been drunk on some park bench for the past few weeks. Some of these sentences and paragraphs aren't necessarily plot-derailers, they're just incredibly out of character or cheesy. Following are a few quick notes on embarrassing, italics-causing, character development pitfalls I've discovered during my noveling adventure. Someone with a degree in English or creative writing could prescribe preexisting terminology for these. Since I only have a degree in excuses for not having a degree, I'll have to make stuff up.
General relative tea: The moment a character is conceived, he or she begins maturing and having tea parties with other characters. They live in subjective time, which passes faster than normal time, resulting in conversations on-stage that would seem "too early" for characters that have "just recently met". Italics!
Character attention disorder: Author leaves the room, but his fingers keep typing. Characters stand around and chat for two or three chapters. Most frequent during word-count marathons. Not author's fault. Italics!
Empathic interference: Characters leave the room, but the author keeps typing. Suddenly, everyone is hooked on 21st Century references, and thinking and speaking exactly alike. Italics! Also, may lead to...
Tourette's syndrome: Characters realize their world is fictitious, lacking real social consequences. Italics!