Writing and Publishing Fiction

I may not have mastered the Art of Fiction.
I have mastered the Art of Cheap Starbucks Coffee.

Some novels are rumored to be too dense, arcane, or pretentious to be read in their entirety. Those sorts of novels are my specialty, and I have been emboldened to complete five such novels from beginning to end: 100 Years of Solitude, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, Foucault's Pendulum, Moby Dick, The Tunnel.

I have read stories that have started off rather badly in my opinion with an extended physical description of the main character. In some cases, every new character is introduced with an extended physical description. Of course, these descriptions include a distinguishing trait, because somewhere someone said that would make the character more believable.

I have found quite the opposite to be true, where the distinguishing trait more often results in a crazy character circus of individuals with strange mannerisms, deranged senses of fashion, and obscure disabilities and ailments. They unintentionally become self-conscious caricatures of a character description that don’t contribute to the story or even the character. These quirks have the same effect as wearing a loud tie—memorable but not palatable.

Way back when I was more earnestly learning the craft of writing, I was reading through several different books on writing fiction. Almost immediately, I felt that I was reading the same book over and over again. It was if they were all cribbing from the same set of Cliff Notes. Show don’t tell. Give your characters a distinctive trait.

Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers was different, both philosophical and practical. Academic and grounded. Finally, a guide to writing that went beyond storytelling abstractions or superficial suggestions on character development, plotting, point of view, and themes.