You can blame this post on Patti Abbott http://pattinase.blogspot.com/ Why blame Patti? Because she was asking about dumbest toys ever made and I mentioned Click Clacks, which made me wonder how in the heck do you describe this toy to people who never saw it...them?
Two hard plastic balls on a string (and yes, the "Ding a Ling" song is strolling through my head) There was a ring on the string that you slid on your finger much like a yo-yo then you waved your hand up and down so the balls clicked and clacked above and below your hand. Stupid fad toy popular in the early seventies.
I worked in the toy department at Grants and they were a big seller, not to mention that everyone in the store had a set they played with when things were quiet. All through the store you could hear click - clack, click - clack, ow, ow, ow, damn! Everyone who played with them had bruised arms, sore wrists and even a black eye or two. This toy would never make it on the market today. And yet, we kept playing with them, click-clacking away trying to see how long we could keep them going. Maybe if the string had been elastic and prone to breaking like the paddle balls, we would have given up quicker.
And still the description doesn't do justice to the beautifully colored orbs or capture the obsessed click-clacking that went along with the toy.
And to bring this back to writing, click-clacks could be used as weapons, or a passing thought by a woman who'd like nothing more than to use her husbands balls like a set of click-clacks or turned into that popular seventies song "silver balls hanging on a string, I think it was my ding-a-ling". Sometimes I miss the "good old days".
Oh yes, and don't forget Patti's Wal-Mart flash challenge on Monday. If you'd like to join in on the fun you can check out the details here http://pattinase.blogspot.com/2009/10/new-flash-fiction-challenge.html And if you really want description woes Patti's Wal-Mart link is a humdinger http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/ The written word cannot do these people justice, believe me, I've been struggling with it. You need a picture just to prove that you didn't make up some of those outfits.
So, how purpley do you allow your prose to get? Do you like using a lot of description when you're writing or do you just trim it down to the bone and let the reader's imagination do the work?
9 comments:
Just had to comment, Sandra. I had those click-clacks! Was never any good at them. Thank you for a nice memory.
As far as prose go, I tend to write sparsely. When I finish a draft I typically have to go back and add description. I read the same way. Description tends to go in and out of my mind quickly. There have been a number of times when I've read books that describe characters' features, but I forget these details and picture the characters completely differently - or not at all. Sometimes I just have a vague feeling about a characters' appearance. It doesn't impact my reading of the work. But this quirk of mine is probably why it doesn't occur to me on most first drafts to add a lot of description.
I'm the same way, Barb. I lay out the basics of the story then go back and fill in. A lot depends on how tight of a word count I need also. But sometimes, a character comes to mind and the way he's dressed or looks is what makes the story roll.
I remember Grant's while I was a little kid. For the longest time we used to have painting from that store hanging in my parents living room.
As for description, that is slowly becoming one of trademarks, be it for a character or for background. I usually make a central part of whatever story I happen to be writing.
Click clacks were a regular weapon at my school! I remember a lad, Tony I think, getting his face absolutely mashed up by them. I'm sure he laughs about it now.
Click-clacks, oh my! I'd forgotten about them, thanks for the memory, Sandra! And what about slinkies? I kept pulling mine apart and then you just have...wire.
My prose used to be much more purple, but nowadays the fashion is to be lean, extra lean sometimes, almost anorexic, so I've trimmed down.
My parents always shopped at Grants, G. My mom still has the old stereo they bought there. Some writers can weave description into their stories and it never seems like padding, it just fits in there nice and snug, I usually have to add it in and hope the story does't look padded.
Those things were wicked dangerous, Paul. My right arm was a mass of buises and I did that to myself. And it is funny to think about now, but I don't think I'd want to walk up behind your Tony with a pair of click-clacks, especially in a dark alley!
I love that, Conda! Anorexic prose. Good one!
The longer the story, the more description. Although I seldom talk about weather. I just noticed that in a novel I am reading. He always tells you about the kind of day it is. It never occurs to me.
I ususally add bits of weather, but I don't move my characters around much in a scene. I really have to force myself to say things he reached for glass or she waved good-bye. I know they have to move but I concentrate so hard on the dialogue that I tend to forget the rest. Comes from writing a lot of flash where sitting, standing, and squatting are wasted words.
You know how gangster I was? I had glass Click Clacks.
Glass.
Seriously.
And they were purple.
They banned the suckers six months after my grandfather bought them for me and unlike other kids, I never cracked them.
My prose is purple on occasion, but I'd rather run with innuendo, it makes the reader work for it.
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