Today I watched one of those cake competitions on TV. One competitor recreated Snow White's face in sugar. She said as an aside, "Her face is too flat. I should've gone more dramatic."
"Hmmmm," I thought, "Flat is a good word." It made me think of the flat character descriptions I've encountered. How do you round out a character? Especially when you only have a line or two to be dramatic?
My #1 recommendation: Make sure every action does double duty, i.e., one movement reveals both character/thought and conflict.
[Commercial break for the Everlasting Critic (EC).
EC: Well, duh. But conflict? Are you kidding?
Me: Does this face lie? Wait a minute. You can't see my face.
EC: What about sitting?
Me: Yup.
EC: I do not mean squirming. I mean sitting still.
Me: I said YUP.
EC: Prove it.
ex. "Salty slouches in the porch rocker, apparently dead... except his trigger finger was itching for that jackrabbit to dare cross his lawn."
I win!
End of commercial.]
WHAT I'VE LEARNED: The world is round, not flat. Ergo, people should be round, not flat.
[I didn't take Logic in undergrad. So sue me.]
No comments:
Post a Comment