ORIGINAL DETAILS

One of the best pieces of advice I was ever given was to use original details in my writing.

Life is so rich. I can write down those real details into my scenes and hardly need to create any others. Really? Not true in all cases. If I only use those details I know first hand from my own experiences, my writing may sound rigid. I need to make up or create some to give my writing more believability.

I love the South I was born in. I have been told I write with a Southern voice which thrills me. If I asked myself why I choose this setting again and again, part of the reason is probably because I feel I know the details--or can make them up with some authority. I know the people there, how they talk, react, and the emotions they show--or don't. I can write about them and the places they live because they are me. And I don't think I would do too well writing about other places. For example,if I have just been to New Orleans for a visit of nostalgia on a heat-filled, dripping August afternoon, stopped to have boiled crayfish and a Jax beer at the Magnolia Bar on St. Charles Street, I'm not going home and write about some off-beat bar in Chicago.

Where are the details?

Be aware of the details around you, but don't be self-conscious. You will naturally take in your environment; later you will be able to sit at your desk and bring these recollections to the screen in a positive way.