The Devil's in the Details...........

Hi all,

Yeah, I’m over at this blog today:)

Anyway, I’m sitting in church yesterday and looking at the mass book. Yeah, yeah, I confess I should be more involved but I mostly attend church to drive my elderly mother (rest is a longer story). In any case, I look down at the book and the cover is one with Jesus and his disciples. So, I start doing what any really observant person does. I begin to count the disciples. Because in some paintings, artists get sloppy sometimes and leave one (or two) out. Now, for those of you who aren’t Christian, there’s suppose to be 12 disciples or followers of Jesus. My finger counts. One, two, three. And stops. At ten. So where’s the other two? Well, Judas was um..the bad one and he’s already gone in this picture (long dead). So yeah, that accounts for him. But then, there’s another disciple missing. Thomas. And then, I have a moment of “Ah, OK, that works” because in the scene that the artist is depicting on the mass book, Thomas is suppose to be out of the room. So, suddenly, I have a greater respect for the artist. Because now I know that he/she knows his ‘back-story’ (religion) and portrays it in the picture.

So what does this all have to do with writing? Well, I didn’t come here to blog about religion (though I may eventually touch upon this issue. As it relates to vampires, anyway). But, really the point that I am trying to get across in this post to the readers of this blog (some of whom I hope are also authors) is that a writer must never forget the small details. Because yes, the reader will pick up on them. And seeing that they remain consistent in your story (and logical), will have new respect for you as an author and hopefully, for your book, novel, short story, etc.

Some of the finer details a writer should worry about are the date. If you say that it’s a Monday and give the calendar date right down to the month/day/year, use a calendar and make certain that it truly was a Monday on that date. Yeah, the reader will check. That’s one of the first things I do. Also, keep eye, hair color, etc., consistent in your novel. Again, it seems logical but every once in awhile a character will have brown hair on page 25 and, on page 145, have blonde hair. Finally, be aware of left-handed, right-handedness. Because I write Dracula as a character and it is tradition to write him left-handed (My Phantom character is left-handed as well), I am always cognizant of the handedness of my characters and write them as such.

Therefore, then, I guess the point of this blog post is for us writers to be careful about the minor details. They seem insignificant but much like in the church painting that I saw on Sunday, will make a difference to your reader. Oh, and May 14, 1888 was also a Monday. In case you were wondering:)

Take care all,
Christine