Muse Food – How Your Characters Eat
Eating is a necessity for humans (and humanlike beings). We have to eat to live.
HOW we eat varies, however, vastly.
There is a wide variety of eating utensils, for example, here on Earth – knives, forks, spoons, fingers, chopsticks, different types of bread, and variations in these. Japanese chopsticks aren’t the same as Chinese chopsticks.
Some people prefer to eat alone in private. Some people prefer to eat with friends or family in public. Some people like to share food. Some people want their own plates, not to be touched by others.
There are also eating rituals and customs like prayers before eating, the order food is eaten, how people sit or stand while eating food, etc.
All of these little details can tell readers more about your world or about your characters.
How do YOUR characters eat?
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Muse Food – Rainbows And Other Meanings
An exercise expert I follow posted a video in which she described her skin as being ‘orange.’
That one throwaway sentence greatly decreased my enjoyment of the video. And it made me view her differently.
(big sigh)
In contrast, a gardening expert recently talked about how she loves rainbows.
That throwaway sentence greatly INCREASED my enjoyment of that video.
(smiles)
Words matter. They can have multiple meanings and be loaded with emotion not at all implied by their definitions in a dictionary.
Choose the words in your story carefully.
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Muse Food – If You’re Creatively Stuck
If I’m creatively stuck, one of the things I try is
using another ‘tool.’
This ‘tool’ could be switching to handwriting for a bit. And then using pens with different colors of ink (different colors stimulate different parts of our brains).
This ‘tool’ could be moving from the writing cave to a busy coffee shop.
This ‘tool’ could be writing the scene from the perspective of a different character.
There are countless tools we can use to stimulate the muse. If you’re creatively stuck, try one!
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Muse Food – Capybaras And Being Watched
When we’re writing, we tend to focus on the main characters – what they are doing, how they are feeling, their plans, their desires, etc.
Other characters in our stories might be doing the same. THEY might be focused on our main characters. And these other characters could be nameless. They could be strangers in a crowd.
But these nameless characters can still influence the plot. Maybe they post a photo on social media that shows the main character in the background. The big baddie is monitoring all social media sites. He sees the main character in this random photo and knows exactly where they are.
Who is watching your main characters?
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Muse Food – Crowns And Going On A Head
Our heads are focal points. They are the highest part of our bodies. Gazes are drawn there first.
So what our characters have on their heads, if anything at all, is important.
This is why writers often mention hair color early in the character’s description. It is one of the first things other beings notice.
And it is why Royalty wear crowns. And new grads wear graduation caps. And birthday girls often wear elaborate hats.
Hats, helmets, other headwear can serve other important purposes also – like protecting our fragile skulls or sealing in breathable air or keeping the rain off our faces.
What is on your character’s head?
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Muse Food – How Does Your World Defend Itself?
There are a gazillion ways for a civilization or a world to defend itself.
The choice of method tells us a lot about the civilization, how they think, what they value.
A truly peace loving civilization, for example, might defend itself by building strong partnerships with other civilizations. They are less likely to be attacked because they have friends or they ARE friends. In a disagreement, their first response will be to send a negotiator. Partnerships will be valued and celebrated. They might even recognize the special celebrations of their partners as well as their own.
A war loving, violent civilization, as another example, might defend itself by attacking first. They will have a strong military with many of its residents expected to serve or have served in it. There will be multiple holidays or celebrations of the military. They will place special emphasis on wars in their history, maybe even reenacting them.
Adding these details can add richness to your world and/or your story!
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Muse Food – Add A Splash Of Color
This little boat is a splash of bright color amidst a sea of white and/or black boats. It stands out. It draws the eye. It is a MOOD.
Consider adding a splash of color to the scene you’re currently crafting. This could be a hero in a bright red coat. Or a word that is rarely used and fantastical. Or an explosion. (grins) I love explosions.
Make something in your scene stand out.
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Muse Food – Physical Space
There are many reasons why ‘Only One Bed’ is such an appealing trope and one of them is because there is a very small physical space the characters have to inhabit.
And that space can be even smaller. That one bed could have been designed for a single person.
Changing the physical space the characters inhabit can significantly change a scene.
A hero whispering in the heroine’s ear in a confined closet where they are forced to press up against each other, for example, is a very different experience than a whisper in a massive ballroom.
A heroine floating alone in the vast expanse of space is a very different experience than the heroine floating alone in a bathtub.
A battle scene inside a building is different than a battle scene in a wide open field.
Can you change the physical space your characters are inhabiting to make the scene more powerful?
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Muse Food – Love Vans And Time As A Setting
The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I spotted this van while trekking around South American and we both immediately thought of the 1960s, the hippie era, a time when some young people embraced peace and love and unity.
Time can be a powerful setting.
It can influence language and fashion and thinking, whether the heroine is viewed as a rebel, for example, or the average girl.
Certain colors and images on covers, for example, can convey a time period like the rocket shaped spaceships on the 1970s SciFi Romances or the high waist gowns on Regency Romances.
What time is your story set in? How does that factor into your plot?
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Muse Food – Bison And The Unexpected
If there was a bison background character in one of my stories crafted for North American readers, I would likely merely mention there was a bison. I might call him majestic or large or hairy. But I wouldn’t go into much detail.
If I was describing THIS bison, I would likely devote some space to describing his horns.
Why?
Because they aren’t typical for a bison. They aren’t ‘normal.’
And because they aren’t normal or expected, they stand out and they warrant mentioning.
Mention the unexpected in your stories, especially if that unexpected detail is important to the plot or character development.
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