by Luba Lesychyn, @LubaLesychyn
The Mystery in Everyday Miracles
Writers often pick up tips about their craft in formal settings such as workshops and classes, but sometimes the best gems are gleaned in rather unusual locations.
Of the many hats I wear, one is as a yoga instructor. But I was as surprised as anyone when an experience at a yoga conference had a significant impact on the novel I was writing, Theft By Chocolate, a sassy museum mystery about a woman of a certain age looking for chocolate, love, and an international art thief in all the wrong places.
I was still in the initial stages of the book when I participated in a yoga session called “Everyday Miracles” led by internationally renowned yogini Seane Corn. Throughout the physically grueling class, Corn’s profound narrative challenged us to stop putting so much emphasis on pursuits that create “big wows” in our lives and, instead, to begin noticing the wonder in the smallest moments.
This suggestion resonated with me on so many levels, but as far as my writing, it sent me in a new direction. From the beginning of my creative process I knew I wanted to set my story in a museum, a world with which I was very intimate as I had been working at Canada’s largest museum for more than twenty years. And I wanted to construct my story around a protagonist addicted to chocolate, because that was a character with which I was excessively familiar. The plot was a work in progress and I had been diligently working on a page-turning adventure, but I wasn’t convinced I had a work that was fresh, that readers hadn’t seen before. Lots of stories are set in museums – what was so different about mine?
So it was on that bone-chillingly damp Sunday morning in Toronto, in a bleak conference centre room filled with 200 yoga practitioners, most of whom were looking for a serious physical practice or hoping to find spiritual enlightenment, that a very different kind of insight came to me.
The cast of characters I worked with daily were stranger – and often funnier – than fiction. And the types of things I encountered in my everyday work routine and considered mundane were what others might find fascinating. It was time to notice, discover and describe the everyday miracles of my life and weave those into my story.
So, I found the magic in my day-to-day world and suddenly taking on new prominence were moments such as encountering someone in a hallway pushing a cart of ancient Egyptian mummified cats or experiencing uneasiness while working late in a building rumoured to have ghostly occupants. Even some of my own embarrassing “moments”, like covering up chocolate bar wrappers in my trash bin so the cleaning staff wouldn’t see how much chocolate I had eaten in a week, became material for the story.
Interweaving such anecdotes, I realized, would give my readers a behind-the-scenes access to museum life and to the life of a chocolate addict that they may never have previously experienced. It would be a new layer to my story that readers could cling onto firmly while they journeyed through my universe. The backdrop would no longer be a flat curtain, it would be a three-dimensional character in its own right, with quirks and flaws and redeeming qualities.
I was fortunate to have such a wealth of unusual stories in a distinctive setting to draw upon for my novel, but so many of the other stories I have percolating within my creative spirit have nothing to do with museums. So my challenge as a writer will be to create a hologram for every tale, even if it’s set somewhere as commonplace as a convenience store. Depending on the story, “big wows” will still have a place in my work, as they do, in Theft By Chocolate. But I am convinced that it will be the everyday miracles that I share with readers that will encourage them to keep coming back for more.
How do you add layers and depth to your writing?
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Great post. I add layers after my initial story puke. I have the opposite problem of many writers. I need to add words instead of cutting them out so adding the layers later is easier.
Teresa
A few years ago, I thought I was dying. It turned out I wasn’t, but when I thought I was, every day became special for me. I want to make the most of each day and that meant noticing even the small things. I never lost that.
It’s one of the reasons I write every day.
It’s the reason I literally stop and smell the roses I see.
I also carry a notebook around and write down special or funny things I see. (I love your chocolate quirk, BTW.)
Funny, but I never thought of my “detail obsession” as adding depth. I generally have much more fun with the extra stuff (to the extent that my crit partners are prone to ask, “where are you going with this?” or “are these details needed?”) but since I really have no experience with most of what I write (covert ops, police procedurals), it’s the little stuff that bring the characters to life for me.
Terry
Terry’s Place
I add layers and depth to my writing throughout the process of revision – and I’m learning now that it takes a lot more revision than I first thought!
Sometimes cutting out a detail so you can hint at it gives more depth than stating it outright.
The little details we take for granted – excellent idea!
Characters add depth for me.
Definitely small details and adding the personality of the character.
And this book looks terrific. Art heists? A mystery? The Maya? Totally everything I love. Can’t wait to read it.
A few years ago, I got a chance to chat with one of my dad’s cousins (a published author) about writing. A week after we talked, she mailed me a small notebook to carry everywhere in my purse, telling me it was the best tool she’d ever found for her writing, because it helped her to take note of everything. The very act of writing it down helps to give whatever it is we see, hear, or think added weight and depth.
Fantastic post, thank you!
I love all the little details. They are what we bring to each story we write that makes our work different from anyone else’s.
I’m still learning to add the depth…but I gain it by my daily interactions with people I meet. Little nuances and quirks from these great people find their way into my stories and characters.
Crazy coincidence…I add something about chocolate in my stories. I’m so addicted. I’ve done crazy things for chocolate and I give my heroine a little of that same craziness. Adding details of a characters profile is what I do for other important folks in the story.
I have always noticed the little details-I am a painter and I see the world through color, shades of light and dark, and what should be put in the painting and what should be inferred.
JWIsley(at)aol(dot)com
I’ve been a bit slow on the uptake due to some technical issues over the last few days, but am back on line!
In response to Clarissa,
I’ve always envied writers who have the discipline to write every day. When I was writing the first draft of “Theft By Chocolate,” I was in a writing program, so I had no choice but to churn out several chapters a month. That kind of discipline seems to be out of my reach these days, but I know I will get back to it.
It sounds like that was some journey you were on and I am so glad you came out on the other side and with a Hollywood ending.
Andrea’s comment gave me a chuckle because I managed to find a new way to procrastinate through revision. I would revise, revise, revise and revise a few pages at a time instead of moving on. We writers can be masters of procrastination. Needless to say, I would not recommend this methodology. :)
In reference to Teresa’s comment, something that worked really well for me was to put the work away for awhile and to come back to it. And I don’t mean just a few days or even weeks. We get so close to our work that we don’t see the obvious until we really let it go.
It takes patience, but in my case it was worth it because the rewrite I did after letting the work sit for a substantial time ended with a publishing deal. I’ll never forget the wise words: writing a book is a sprint, but getting it published is a marathon.
In reference to Alex’s comment, I notice the same thing in movies now too. In the film “Young Adult” Charlize Theron plays a writer of books for young adults who is going through a mid-life crisis. In one scene,Theron is crashed out on a couch watching the reality TV show “Keeping Up With the Kardashians.” That scene told so much more about the characters state of mind than twenty lines of dialogue.
In reference to Laura’s comment, I look forward to hearing your comments after you’ve read the book.
In reference to Louise’s comment, I too keep a small notebook in my purse and it’s with me wherever I go.
I’ll also jot things down on pages and just file them into a folder I keep for the piece I’m working on. Although I’ve started to do brain gym exercises every day, I don’t trust anything to memory anymore.
In reference to Terry’s comment, I think the detail is gold. But, yes, I have been cautioned about ensuring that adding it progresses the plot or adds some relevant depth to a character’s portrait. It’s such a balance and I think it’s something we as writers always struggle with.
And remember, there are always going to be readers who love a thick layer of detail while others who may not be so keen about it. But if you are getting the same kind of feedback over and over again, we do have to sit up and take notice.
Joe, I can tell you are character yourself just from your profile “picture.” Love it!
In reference to Carol’s comment, I would add that details are the hidden doorways to the worlds we create in our work and they give our readers access to those worlds.
In reference to Deanna’s comment, I had so much fun with my character’s quirks. I can’t wait to get working on my next installment of “Theft By Chocolate” and get back to revealing some more about the characters I introduced in the first work.
Marcia, it’s no coincidence that you use chocolate in your work as well. I think “Theft By Chocolate” and works like yours will reveal that the number of chocolate addicts in this world far exceeds current estimates. :)
In reference to the painter’s comments, I envy you. I don’t know if you are a writer as well, but if you are, I’m sure your acute perception of the world would add a very unique dimension to the stories you “paint” whether on canvas or through words.