|
“My place or yours?”
What an amazing word ‘place’ is! Webster’s definition of place has twelve parts and is far too lengthy to copy here. And though it includes such descriptions as space, atmosphere, environment, time period, social standing, it still fails to capture the entire meaning of the word. I love writing about place. It encapsulates everything that goes into great writing: the people, the setting, the time period, the very essence of each story. Maybe it is because of this that Italy is such a simple example and wonderful place to write about. Italy received a brief cameo in my last novel, UNTANGLING THE KNOT, but claims the entire setting for my next one. Place is so important to my writing that it is even in my tagline, Journeys Inspired by Love. What is it about place that inspires me as a reader and a writer? It feels colorful to me, filled with food, and scenery and accents and architecture. The light is different in each location (think Picasso on the Riviera). The color of food is unique to place. I visualize the reds of pasta and wine in Italy versus the earth tones of spices in Morocco. All of these things can be used to show, rather than tell, about the place. Of course there is also accent or language, and in this authors are cautioned to be careful. I once read a fantastic guest post on Kristen Lamb’s blog, discussing dialogue. In it the guest, revealed the challenges of writing great dialogue. One of these pitfalls is using language that pulls the reader from the story and reminds them they are reading. Some examples of this are: overuse of a single word, like an endearment, using dialogue tags other than said, and overuse of a foreign language or local slang. I can recognize myself in this last one as I’ve had to edit 40 Ciao’s (said by my Italian heroine) out of my current manuscript. (And p.s., foreign language is always formatted in italics; a lesson I learned from one, kind, rejection letter.) Writing place takes in the scent of the foods, the color of the sky, the sound of the traffic and how to say goodbye (other than ciao.) Some of my favorite books which illustrate great use of place are- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows Chasing Cezanne by Peter Mayle (or anything else by this author) Around Ireland with a Fridge by Tony Hawks Molto Mayhem (hopefully coming someday soon, by Deanne Wilsted:>) I hope you are swept away and find yourself in a new and exciting place. Buona Suerta, Deanne I am always looking for novels with a great sense of place. Do you have any good recommendations? I’d love to hear them and promise to share them! Leave me a comment and let me know.
0 Comments
“... But maybe wait a bit before coming over to Egypt.”
I was fortunate enough to be tagging along on my (nine year old) daughter’s first ever professional conference. She’s been into Egypt for as long as I can remember. So when we saw that the national meeting of all things Egypt was coming here to Portland we knew we had to attend. At some point she saw that they were looking for student posters. And while my husband and I realized this meant Masters / PhD students’ posters, the beauty of youth is that things like that don’t matter. She wrote an abstract for her presentation and we were all thrilled when it was accepted. So, there I was acting as chaperone, collecting business cards for her and holding her materials while she talked to specialists in the area of Ancient Egypt. Meanwhile, though, I did get to attend some sessions, albeit the ones she was most interested in. I also got to speak with some of the amazing scholars in the field… when she was done speaking with them. Many of these people encouraged her to visit Egypt. But what was repeated over and over was, “maybe not yet.” It would be an amazing trip, don’t get me wrong. And I certainly have spent most of my blog time lately writing about how travel can be messy. But I think this, as a mom, might just be a little too messy for me. It is one thing to concern myself over my own safety; quite another to worry about my daughter’s. Truly, I would be a complete wreck before we even made it off the plane in Cairo. Still… as I learned more about the wonders that are there, and the wonders still left to be found, I pledged this trip would happen. I would like to be the person who can see through whatever chaos is left when the protesting settles. I would like my daughter to be this person. For the time being, though, she will continue to build her knowledge through books and shows about Egypt. And now, thanks to the conference, perhaps also through email correspondence with some of the people whose feet are now returning to Cairo even as I write this. Many Happy Journeys Inspired by Love. Have you been to Egypt? Do you have a passion that has made you travel somewhere beyond reason? I love so much hearing from readers, so leave a comment and let me know about your own wonderful journeys. Deanne |
Subscribe to my blog:
About Me...
Deanne WilstedLink here to Betting Jessica on Amazon.com Archives
June 2020
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed
Proudly powered by Weebly