Hi and welcome back:
A mentor once told me that people in a story were bits of God on the page. If that reference offends, find your own word for that which is “greater than.” The Divine, perhaps. The Other.
Every single person is a unique and blessed creation. To bring that kind of attention to a person in your story, even one who has only the slightest walk-on part, you do the good work of a great writer. And you are not alone. A few examples of writers who have spent time describing characters that hardly make more than a moment in the overall story:
Four Seasons in Rome by Anthony Doerr: A pair of monks, small as gnomes, push past, talking animatedly, onions on their breath.
Truth Serum by Bernard Cooper: The waitresses at Burl’s wore brown uniforms edged in checkered gingham. From their breast pockets frothed white lace handkerchiefs. In between reconnaissance missions to the tables, they busied themselves behind the counter and shouted “Tuna to travel,” and “Scorch that patty” to a harried short order cook who manned the grill.
And though this isn’t memoir, I have to share one from my favorite book and author, A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving: Mr. Tubulari—was also away for Christmas. He was also a bachelor, and he had insisted on the fourth floor—for his health; he claimed to love running upstairs. He had many female visitors…Mr. Tubulari was fast and silent and thrived on catching the boys “in the act”—in the act of anything: shaving cream fights, smoking in their rooms, even masturbation. Each floor had a designated common room, a butt room, so-called, for the smokers; but smoking in dorm rooms was forbidden—as was sex in any form, alcohol in any form, and drugs that had not been prescribed by the school physician. Mr. Tubulari even had reservations about aspirin. According to Dan, Mr. Tubulari was off competing in some grueling athletic event over Christmas—actually, a pentathlon of the harshest-possible wintertime activities; a “winterthon,” Mr. Tubulari had called it.
In each of the above examples, the reader will not be seeing these characters again. The monks have moved on. The waitresses are no longer needed. Mr. Tubulari has been dispatched. And yet, we’ll never forget them either. Each is memorable because they were attended with care and generous description.
It’s time to circle back to Chapter one of Crazy for the Storm by Norman Ollestad and to pay specific attention to the father.
Paid subscribers, thank you and read on.
Everyone else, I invite you to become a paid subscriber which means the world to a working writer, like me. Plus, you get to continue on with this terrific teaching. 🤗
Listen to this episode with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Flight School with Jennifer Lauck to listen to this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.
