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A young writer I am working with is writing a historical fiction short story about a family surviving a flood in the early 1900s. Working with her reminds me of an important lesson one of my mentors worked hard to get across to me. Envision the scene. What do you see? Now, what does your character see?
I'll apply this to the picture. I see dried roses and open books spread out on a surface, perhaps a bed or a desk. There is a mirror and music sheets with their edges burnt. I can imagine the scent of the flowers lingering in the air. And there's a burnt picture tucked behind one of the books.
My character, I'll call her Loretta, "sees": She entered her grandmother's room after following the strong smell of roses. Spread across Grandma Florence's bed were her favorite old books and music sheets with slightly burnt edges. Dried roses were tossed across the mess. Grandma was nowhere to be seen. Loretta tugged the photo - its edges burnt like the music - from beneath a book. Her grandmother, about her own age, stood smiling in a wedding dress beside a man who was not Loretta's grandfather. She flipped the photo over and found, scrawled in her grandmother's beautiful cursive, was Me and my Eddie. There wasn't a date. A clipping from a newspaper - an obituary - sat near where the photo was. It was for an Edwin Gregory Jones ... he'd died two years before Grandma Florence married Grandpa. He was a trumpet player for the Army band and had died rescuing villagers in Europe during World War II. Why had she never mentioned this man?
Can you feel the difference of what I see versus my character? Those items mean something to her - they reveal something she never knew about her grandmother. They reveal a mystery. Now try it with your characters.
Hope you enjoyed this month's Writing Tip!