My friends are, generally, nice people, but they do laugh at one particular handicap I have.
I can’t for the life of me describe anything to do with fashion.
For a teenage girl it was fairly crippling. “Elizabeth, what are you wearing to Cotillion?”
I’d pause. “It’s blue.”
You can imagine the tittering that followed. :)
When my bridesmaids asked me what types of dresses they’d be wearing, I said, “They’re pretty inexpensive. They’re sundresses.”
It wasn’t what they’d asked. I did notice that when they were describing their own Cotillion dresses or wedding gowns or bridesmaids dresses, they’d use terms like “tea length,” and “V-neck” and “tulle.”
I don’t care much about fashion, and it’s pretty obvious. :)
I’m not writing catalog copy (thank goodness), but I am writing books that women will read. And I know many women like at least some sort of an idea what characters are wearing. Plus, clothing can be an indicator as to a person’s profession or give some insights into them as a character (I’m wincing wondering what my clothes say about me…).
So I’ve spent a good deal of time reading ad copy and catalog copy for clothing companies.
I’ve also gone to paint store sites to read their descriptions of color and texture.
I’ve visited curtain manufacturer websites, oriental rug websites…you name it. I’ve tried to get a feel for descriptive language from people who use it to sell products.
There are also sites like The Bookshelf Muse which help connect writers with descriptive terms for colors and textures.
The important thing, I think, is knowing where our writing weaknesses lie. Because there are so many ways we can learn how to overcome them.
Got any writing weaknesses? How are you addressing them?
I have a rule: whatever you find yourself avoiding… go after it.
Either it’s a weakness, and you’ll learn something, or it’s something dear to your heart and it will add meaning to what you write.
One simple solution is to co-write. I can happily write an entire novel and have no idea what the MC actually looks like. Luckily my co-authors have every inch of the MC mapped out in glorious detail and between us we strike an acceptable balance.
Another great place to study color is the cosmetic dept at your local Walgreens or CVS. Read the colors of the nail polish, lipstick, and hair color. I got some great lists from there.
Thanks for the Bookshelf Muse tip. I’m following.
Hi Elizabeth .. I’d be just like you having to explore – so much to learn. Enjoy the weekend .. Hilary
Elizabeth – Oh, I think we all have our writing weaknesses. One of mine is that I find it hard to describe people physically without going overboard. I recognize good descriptions that can really make characters distinctive for the reader. But it’s much harder for me to write them without “overkill.” That’s one place where I always find myself editing…
To make it simple, I dress all my characters in black and white >:)
Cold As Heaven
I wouldn’t worry about the clothes thing too much – the one thing that really really irritates me in Charlaine Harris’ books, which otherwise I adore, is her obsession with describing every single thing her protagonist is wearing every single day. It’s the dullest thing ever and it doesn’t half date the books written in the 1990s. If it’s a ballgown, it might need described – otherwise, leave it out, it doesn’t matter!
Fashion, eh? You and me both. My biggest weakness is makeup. I don’t wear it and I barely know how to apply it. Thus my heroines don’t wear makeup. Or pantyhose. Hate pantyhose with a passion.
I am like you, I know very little about what is in. So I try to suggest what type the character is by letting her wear a cardigan (old-fashioned), walk in flat shoes (sensible), or I google a fashion page or two and equip the fashion-conscious woman with a grenadine coat or Gucci gladiators. Yay for google!
I couldn’t describe fashion to save my life!
Nice post! My weakness is “where’s the plot?” as it so often comes up in critique. Not good!
My tenses are my weakness. I might start the paragraph in the present and end of in the past! I was good in English in high school and college, so I’m not sure why I do this.
One of my writing weaknesses is probably fashion. XD
Another is character depth, but mostly just for my main characters. Side characters come out fine, but most of my main characters don’t develop any depth until a year later, when I’m revising. XD
My weakness is with police procedure, but now there’s a fellow in my critique group who used to be a policeman. He’s very helpful, often reminding me, “It wouldn’t happen that way in real life.” :)
Loree–What a great idea! I’ll check that out the next time I go. I don’t think I ever really read the cosmetic names…just go for #205, Revlon. :) Ha!
The Daring Novelist–That sounds like a good motto. I don’t like it when I don’t understand something, so that usually is an approach I’ll take. Although some things are clearly over my head (like math. There is no math in my books. :) )
Hilary–Hope you have a happy one, too!
Mark–I have a feeling that I wouldn’t be much fun to write with! But that’s a very interesting idea and approach.
Cold As Heaven–Which sounds like a genius idea to me!
Juliette–That’s what I hope my readers think! Yes, it annoys the stew out of me as a reader to have to read descriptions of clothing. Bleh.
Margot–Easy to do because we’re so focused on writing the description! I’ve had blinders on before while doing that, too.
Alex–You or me either!
Taffy–Oh no! Have you ever tried writing the back cover copy of your book first? Sometimes that helps for me.
Silent Pages–I’ve had books like that, too, where I had to flesh characters out later. Maybe if your side characters are super-strong, you can show a little more about the protagonist by the way he or she interacts with them…
Julia–Hose! Ugh. Yeah, good thing that’s ‘out’ right now. At least…I *think* it’s out. It’s out for me, anyway!
Dorte–Sounds like a very sensible idea!
I like fashion, but I don’t incorporate it into my own life. It’s fun to read about, but I prefer to get ready for the day easily and quickly! Comfortable and casual is my style. Hmm, I wonder if that’s how most of my characters are?! I better check that out.