Apple Redux

Did you know that detail can be used in both fiction and non-fiction writing?

I’m not talking about conversations, or plots, or outlines. I’m talking about good, basic, descriptive detail.

Suppose you’re writing a how-to book on, say, using an apple slicer on an apple. You might say the following:

“Take the apple slicer and center the core hole over the stem of the apple. Push the slicer down forcefully so that the slicer slices the apple into small crescents while the center circle cores the apple.”

Now, convert that how-to paragraph into fiction:

“Stella, lost in thought, took the apple slicer and centered the core hole over the stem of the apple. She pushed the slicer down forcefully so that the slicer sliced the apple into small crescents while the center circle cored the apple.”

That’s past tense. It can also be done in present tense:

“Stella is lost in thought as she takes the apple slicer and centers the core hole over the stem of the apple. She pushes the slicer down forcefully so that the slicer slices the apple into small crescents while the center circle cores the apple.”

Do you see the difference?

If you are describing how a character does something, and you want to use detail, it might help you to jot down a careful how-to before you begin writing. Afterward, you can use the same how-to to adapt to your character’s actions.

Of course, if you don’t want to go into detail, you can always “shorten” the action:

“Stella, lost in thought, cut the apple into slices.”

Bor-ing!

Now, sometimes, it’s useful to shorten the action. If someone is driving a car, for instance, you really don’t want to list each move your character makes – it could take up half of your manuscript describing each step in driving to the grocery store and back!

And sometimes, you want each step described for a reason. Suppose Stella is angry, and has many apples to slice and core. You might make note of that fact:

“Stella, lost in angry thought, took the apple slicer and centered the core hole over the stem of the apple. She pushed the slicer down forcefully so that the slicer sliced the apple into small crescents while the center circle cored the apple. She reached for another apple and repeated her motions, growing angrier as she worked her way through the apples, until each apple was no longer a neat pile of slices and cores, but a mixture of random apple pieces.”

It is implied that Stella has lost control of herself with her anger, and began chopping apples uncontrollably.

Using your knowledge of how things work, or how you perform various actions, you can write your fiction so that it conveys the idea that your characters are everyday people working their way through daily routines.

It gives your writing a bit of realism, and, hopefully, makes people want to…

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T. M. Bilderback (But you can call me Michael)

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