Master Class in Fiction Writing: Techniques from Austen, Hemingway, and Other Greats : Lessons from the All-Star Writer's Workshop by Sexton Adam

Author:Sexton, Adam [Sexton, Adam]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McGraw-Hill
Published: 2005-10-17T00:00:00+00:00

What Characters Don’t Say

A character’s silence can mean as much as her words. In fact, explicit silence in dialogue usually signifies more than what characters say. So don’t hesitate to write He said nothing. Or describe what a character does rather than speaking. As Sigmund Freud wrote, “Mortals can keep no secret. If their lips are silent, they gossip with their fingertips; betrayal forces itself through every pore.”

When Characters Say What They Say

Have you ever known someone who always says what she says at precisely the right time? That’s more than dumb luck. It’s sensitivity to the feelings of others, as well as to the ebb and flow of social intercourse generally. We call this emotional intelligence. Though the central characters in A Severed Head are a Cambridge don, a lecturer at the London School of Economics, a psychoanalyst, and a military-history buff, they seem to lack emotional intelligence altogether; or perhaps they recognize one another’s feelings but are too selfish to care. In any case, they possess a remarkable (and hilarious) knack for saying what they say at precisely the wrong time.

With respect to emotional intelligence, are your own characters prodigies or dolts? Something to think about as they begin talking to each other.

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