Mimicry Exercise Experiment #2

Today, I mimiced a page or two of Sophie Kinsella’s The Undomestic Goddess. (See these posts for more info: Mimicry Description, Mimicry Exercise #1.) This story uses first person, present tense and is British. I found this one easy to mimic. I LOVE first person, present tense. It flowed. I also love the heroine and have read this story a few times, making it easier to mimic the voice, thoughts and tone.

Really, there isn’t much to say about this one, except: I want to write all first person, present tense all the time!

I did notice there was a lot of self-talk. I think that is one of the things that really makes first person work. There has to be a lot of self-talk–a lot of inner dialogue going on which is important to the story and adds that extra layer to the  characters.

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Mimicry Exercise Experiment #1

Today is day 1 of giving the mimicry exercises a go.

I chose Marian Keyes’ Anybody Out There? which is written in first person, past tense. (It’s a great book. I’ll do a book review on it next week.)

Basically, I typed out a page and a half in Word (single spaced) straight from the book. I got a feel for how she interspersed action with telling. The telling was great, by the way. Just a few sentences here or there, nothing drawn out. Enough to let the reader know what was going on and getting us from point A to point B in fast form. BUT there were also these wonderful tiny details. Such as:

At lunchtime I tried to get my nails done, but when I took off the bandages and revealed them to the manicurist she went green and said they were far too short for acrylic ones to be fitted. When I returned with the bad news Lauryn behaved as if I was lying.

The fact that the manicurist turned green and Lauryn behaved as though the character was lying, is great. Those are small details, yet they take those two ‘telling’ recap sentences memorable. They show us about her nails–they really are nasty and not all the way grown out yet (she lost them). It also shows us a bit of Lauryn’s character and what she values. (Lauryn is her boss.)

In past tense telling, I had been fearing the use of ‘was’. Even though the class I just finished on showing and telling with Shannon Donnelly where she demonstrated there is a time and place for telling, I still fear ‘was’ and ‘had’ appearing in my work–in case I overuse them. Strangely, I have also felt as though I am unable to use first person with past tense. (It could just be my story where first person and past tense don’t work together.) However, Keyes does it well and provides an excellent example of it working well. In fact, I can’t imagine this story being in anything but as the reader needs that closeness to the heroine.

So, that is what I learned from Keyes’ pages. The next step was to continue on, imitating her style and voice. It was really cool because it just flowed. Her style. It felt easy. Except for the whole ‘where the heck should the plot go?’. That was hard. What to write? The style was there, ready for me to play with–I was grooving in first person, past tense–but where should I go with it? Ack!

Having a pro ‘guide me’ through the switch ups between action, telling and dialogue was wonderful. Playing with those switch ups is something I am going to practice. (It doesn’t have to be big and scary!)

The other thing that felt good while mimicking Keyes, was allowing that closeness of the heroine’s thoughts and feelings into the story. Bam. Right there on the page. No held punches. And in past tense. I liked it.

Tomorrow, another mimicry. Stay tuned.

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The First Five Pages: Style

Oh my god, this is fun. Why didn’t anyone ever tell me this was so much fun? I am taking a scene I wrote that had lots of description (not so heavy on the dialogue) and I am trying to first, write it as simple and straightforward as possible. Turns out, this particular piece is somewhat straight forward already. But then, the second one was to rewrite it using the opposite style as you use normally. Fun!

It’s like the time the gals and I in grade nine English tried to write our little piece as vulgar and awful as possible–without getting into trouble, that is. That piece was so gross. Yet so much fun to write. I think I still have it somewhere. That poor teacher. The piece bothered him as we had hoped it would. Oh, the power of using the right words.

Anyway, my little piece is getting long and convoluted and so much fun! (As you may have noted, I am past fixing up the comparisons in my manuscript. Although, going through my manuscript for style may be just as agonizing.)

I am so glad my hubby took me to the bookstore that day and that I decided to look at the writing books and that I found Lukeman’s book. It has been a BLAST! I recommend it, recommend it, recommend it.

Seriously, I recommend it.

I just wrote him an ‘I worship you’ email to thank him for writing his book and letting him know how useful and wonderful it is. And guess what? He has a free download of his e-book on query letters. Does life get any better than this?

Am I geeking out here? Is it legal to have this much fun? Sure, it is hard. But it is hard fun. And even though I complain a little bit here and there, it is only because my head is about to explode. But then I finish and everything reads better and I am on to the next exciting exercise and it is ‘wahoo’ time again.

Anyway, I must go have more fun finishing my convoluted scene. Oh, and getting some Cheerios for my daughter.

The First Five Pages: Style

Style is something I’ve never given much thought to. Most of the clothes I purchase because they are affordable, comfortable and hopefully at least mildly flattering. As for home decor, well, it is surprising how well all our given-to-us furniture goes together. Add a few pieces from Ikea’s As Is section, and we have a home!

Oh right, writing. Yep, haven’t consciously thought about style there either. Okay, well, maybe. But not as ‘style’. More like the feel or tone or my voice or the main character’s voice and how that all fits and flows to make the story compelling.

I was reading an article last night about mood. Hadn’t really thought about that too much either. Not consciously at least. Wow. Talk about hard.

Ever tried to consciously define style or mood? Ugh. Not so easy. Ever looked at your own work and tried to definitively put your finger on the exact mood or style of the piece? chapter? paragraph? sentence? word?

Kill me now. For me, it feels as daunting and impossible as trying to pull one particle of water out of a moving river. (Hey, look at me using comparison!)