literature

On Adjectives.

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Literature Text

       A common and telltale sign of the immature writer is to use unneeded adjectives for characters early on.  While it is necessary to let the reader know what one is talking about, there are more subtle or skillful ways to go about doing so.
       Proper use of exotic adjectives is often the first step towards good, spicy writing.    
       It is important to know how and where to deliver these adjectives without burning the roof of one's mouth off.
Therefore, as a consideration.
       "No, I don't see the problem," Alice said, tossing her head.  The golden-haired young shield maiden stalked away, offended.
       Why is this a problem?  It might not be.  But it reeks of that marvelous blight on the face of all literature: fanfiction.
       A Hallmark flaw with fanfiction writers is that they care more for the look of a character than who that character actually is, and it becomes incredibly important to them that their reader knows exactly what they are picturing.  Often this stems from writing for cartoons or anime, where the visual IS half the character to them.  
       A good writer should know that character has more than looks, and should have confidence in his or her own writing not to continually feel the need to reinforce the image.  There are subtle, artful ways to introduce a character: to describe upon introduction, or gradually add details as their story progresses.  Repetitive, unnecessary details suggests two things: a lack of faith in the audience's ability to remember THIS VITAL POINT, and a background in such fields as rps or fanfiction, where the visual often is the biggest joy, or they feel the need to remind their reader of something so he or she can respond properly.
       In solo writing of original characters for a short story or novel, therefore, it is important to know when and where to describe a character, and when to leave it alone.
I can usually tell whether a story will be fun to read or a painful endeavor by the way the first paragraph is crafted. There are small, telltale signs of whether the writer knows what he or she is doing. It is very daunting when an excellent story is told with minimal dignity as a piece of textual art.
This is one of the 'signs' I see most often, which never fail to elicit an internal groan.
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crystalofchaos's avatar
gonna feature this in my group <3