Current Project: Surviving February and March
Status: Half Done!
One of my favorite short stories to teach is "The Things They Carried," both for its beautiful centering narrative and for the depth and variety of descriptive writing. The items that each solider chose to carry reveals much about each one's character. I then ask students to dig through their bags and purses to find three unusual items and describe each in a way that reveals its significance to them. Literary fiction authors (I really hate that term as ALL fiction is literature) often toil with description, working with the nuisances of wording, and building up lavish portraits of inanimate objects. (Case in point, the tree in Separate Peace). Sometimes, however, in romance novels, items get overlooked in favor of rippling pecs, smoldering glances, and witty banter. Of course, fashion occupies a good deal of page real estate in many novels, but I'm talking about what's in the purse, the bedside table, the desk drawer, the kitchen junk drawer, and the bathroom vanity. This is a shame because used judiciously item descriptions can do a lot of showing of character and save you from all that tedious telling. In Out of Control, Suzanne Brockmann uses the contents of the heroine's purse to reveal much of her backstory, show her character traits, and reveal much of inner hopes and dreams. She also manages to tie story arcs together using items from the purse. Pretty nifty, eh?
So, let's try an exercise. (You knew this was coming!) Pick three items from your purse and give a description that moves beyond "the pink cell phone" and the "set of nine keys." Bonus points if you do the same for your heroine or hero.
15 comments:
Checking the box so that I get some comment love :)
Do you mean describe the object or describe the object as how it reflects something about me? If so....first thing I spotted in my purse was floss. It's an indication of my profession and belief in taking care of one's teeth as a part of whole health. And it shows I frequently get stuff caught in my teeth in resturants. I also carry five different lip glosses. Uh... shows OCD? Dry lips? I always carry visine. I constantly have bloodshot eyes from too much reading and computer time.
Hmmm. All mine are associated with looks. Yep. That's me: always worried about how others see me. Scary exercise.
My purse is small- Two ink pens emblazoned with Paty Jager, Western Romance Author, www.patyjager.com, a thin (holds maybe a dozen cards) black plastic business card holder with business cards that say Paty Jager, Romance Author and my info. The holder was a freebie at a conference. Black cell phone that only gets turned on when traveling. My dh purchased the thing for his peace of mind when I travel.
Heroine of WIP- Her bag contains stethoscope, chloroform, and stage face powder. She'll not be caught again with her scar uncovered.
Hero- The only bag he carries around is one filled with self-pity.
Hmmm...
Okay, so I have several handbags - one brown, one black, one blue - and the one I happen to carry on any given day is dependent on what I'm wearing that day. (Because, you know, you can't carry a brown purse if you're wearing black shoes. It's just...a fashion faux pas!) But in all three I carry the same things:
An orange tube of tangerine flavored OSU Chapstick. The sticker seal that was broken when it was first opened is always lined up.
A shiny orange GUESS wallet with ink stains across the top and back. Unfortunately, there's never any cash in my wallet.
A red and silver flip cell phone, paint chipped on all corners and edges. When it rings, it plays the OSU fight song. And when you open it up, the screen saver is a tropical paradise with a single leaning palm tree hovering over crystal blue waters and pearl white sand.
It's slim pickings in my purse right now since I mostly emptied it out before I went on vacation. Still...here goes:
A black leather wallet. I've always been generally dissatisfied with wallets made for women. They tend to be too big or too impractical or both. And they're never made out of the kind of high quality leather that a good man's wallet is made out of, at least not without being ridiculously expensive. The last time I bought a wallet I decided to hell with social gender labels, I wanted a wallet that worked for me. So I went to the men's department at Macy's and bought the perfect wallet. It has a reasonable number of card slots (not plastic), two slots for paper money, no stupid change compartment, and, best of all, it's made out of leather that's as soft as butter.
A 3.5x5.5 black ruled Moleskine notebook. I love my 5.25x8.5 Moleskine notebooks, but they're a little too big to carry in my purse. The smaller version is just right to carry around. I use it when I get ideas that I'm afraid I'll forget while I'm out. And it has a little pocket in the back that comes in handy.
A Pilot G-2 .07 gel ink pen in blue ink. I hate most ballpoint and roller pens, but I love the feel of this pen in my hand and the way the ink glides on paper. I buy them by the box at office supply stores so I won't run out. I always have at least one in my purse (sometimes more).
In the zipped pocket of my purse there is a wad of bills, the remainder of the last "bonus" I gave myself and my dh (His is in his wallet somewhere) when I cashed the last Harlequin check. It's mad money and there isn't much of it left.
There's also a bright pink button in there. The button has been around for a long time. Someday I will pull something out of my closet and it will be missing a bright pink button and I will shout aha! so loud you will hear me in Salem. Meanwhile, at least I know where it is...
The last item is a very small Swiss Army knife I carry on my keychain and this is why: My dh gave me one years ago when he received it as a safety award at a mill he worked at. I put it on my keychain. I then went to the recycling place, opened the trunk and picked up a huge pile of newspapers by putting my fingers under the string that bound them. The papers shifted, catching my fingers. I was utterly trapped and there was no one else around. The pain! The agony!!!! And then I saw the keys in the trunk lock, reached up, opened the knife with my teeth and saved two fingers from certain death. I've not been without a knife since then.
Fun blog!
Well, there's the kitchen sink--no, wait! It's a bathroom sink...that signifies my second bathroom is not functional as a bathroom right now. LOL!
OK, what's really in the suitcase I'm currently using for a purse:
--A slim pack of baby wipes. Not because I have a baby, but because I have grandkids and because I am messier than most kids, so I use these a lot!
--A bag of cosmetic items, many of which I don't use--but just in case...
--A calendar crammed with coupons, business cards, bookmarks, and more. Again, just in case...
What this says to me is that I need to let go of a lot of "just in case" stuff that is cluttering up my life.
And what's in my heroine's purse? Hmm...good question. I'll take a look tomorrow and see what insights that gives me into her character.
This is always an interesting exercise!
In my small brown purse (that I wear with black shoes, oh the shame!) I don't have much, but I do have...
1. A tube of Burt's Bees Peppermint Lip Balm that my family and I call "lipstuff". I have to have this or I'd die. If the airlines ban this item, as they're wont to ban so many these days, I would tell them where to shove their planes, and never fly again.
2. A tip card, because I suck at math and never have any idea how to figure out percentages and I like to tip nicely and don't want to short the waiter/waitress, or whatever they're called these days.
3. A small (broken) tortoise shell mirror and plastic toothpick. Because, like Kendra, I always get stuff stuck in my teeth and it's a habit to check them since I had braces for so many years. I just wish my teeth were as nice as Kendra's, but I have HORRIBLE ENGLISH GENES that prevent me from ever having nice teeth and gums. (Yes, I floss. LOL)
My Heroine's Hippie Chic, Leather Fringed, Jimmy Choo Knock-Off Handbag...
1. Stale Cheetoes: The stale Cheetoes are because she prefers stale to fresh. They chew better, she likes the feel of them, and they take longer to eat.
2. Dove Dark Chocolates: Dark chocolate because she needs the boost and she uses it to assuage her nerves when she can't get to a Coke. NOT DIET!
3. iPhone 3G: Because she owns her owns business and deals with too much crap to not have one. When you design outfits and accessories for Hollwood's dogs you have to be available 24/7 and you need a reliable phone thingy. :) (I just love technical words like Thingy.)
And I realize my heroine could probably afford a real Jimmy Choo, but she does put stuff in it that she shouldn't and she's a practical girl. So knock-offs fit her style. ;)
Fun post Wavy!
I found another lip gloss in my purse. Six. I obviously have a problem.
ROFLMAO KENDRA!! TOO FUNNY!!!
Clearly, y'all love lipgloss. I think I misplaced an X chromosome someplace, because I can't get into lipgloss or chapstick. I have many barely used tubes of it b/c I like the IDEA of it, but I just don't like how it feels.
I essentially have three purses right now: diaper bag, work bag, and wallet bag. I got this awesome pouch at Farmer's Market and I keep my wallet, cell phone, keys, checkbook in the pouch, and I can stuff some baby crackers in there too in a pinch. At $8, it's one the cheapest purses I have bought, but I totally love it. I bought it specifically for babywearing, which says that I care more about being a mom than being fashionable right now. And the absence of beauty care items says that I never really cared that much about fashion to begin with :P
Favorite items that my students have shared: a can opener, packets of red pepper, a single knitting needle, baby sock, and doubt.
Clearly, y'all love lipgloss. I think I misplaced an X chromosome someplace, because I can't get into lipgloss or chapstick. I have many barely used tubes of it b/c I like the IDEA of it, but I just don't like how it feels.
I essentially have three purses right now: diaper bag, work bag, and wallet bag. I got this awesome pouch at Farmer's Market and I keep my wallet, cell phone, keys, checkbook in the pouch, and I can stuff some baby crackers in there too in a pinch. At $8, it's one the cheapest purses I have bought, but I totally love it. I bought it specifically for babywearing, which says that I care more about being a mom than being fashionable right now. And the absence of beauty care items says that I never really cared that much about fashion to begin with :P
Favorite items that my students have shared: a can opener, packets of red pepper, a single knitting needle, baby sock, and doubt.
I think I like the smell. I have cinnamon buns, sugar cookie, raspberry lemonade, raspberry, black cherry and vanilla.
Sheesh. I sound like an ad for Bonne Belle.
Bethany, go to the Beaver store in Keizer and get yourself some tangerine orange chapstick. ($2.95...it's in a bucket on the checkout counter.) I hate every other variety, but this stuff is great. I only use it to keep my lips from getting chapped. Like you, I can't stand lip gloss or any other variety of chapstick...I've tried them all. In Reno over SuperBowl weekend I forgot my beaver chapstick and had to buy blistex in the gift shop because I had a cold and my lips were chapped so bad. ACK! That stuff was awful. I ended up tossing it.
Okay, ix-nay all this lip gloss stuff. It's full of things that dry your lips. Go to a bath store and buy a tiny round container with a screw on lid and fill it with petroleum jelly and wipe that on dry lips. No additives.
No offense to the Beavers.
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