Devil’s in the details

I recently came across a couple of different bits of wisdom that really gave me pause.

First, I listened to the audiobook Becoming a Writer, Staying a Writer by J. Michael Straczynski. It’s geared a bit more toward beginner writers, at least in the first half of the book, but there are some great ideas in there. And I always feel inspired by picking up on other writers’ work ethic, and boy does Straczynski have a strong work ethic! At any rate, to paraphrase a small section, Straczynski learned how small details matter and convey more emotion than grand ideas. For example, he was struggling with a scene in which two characters argued right before one died. He was thinking of having them argue about money, adultery, or something else equally big. But the advice given him was to let the characters have a stupid argument over something trivial and small, like napkins. Imagine the last thing you say to a loved one before they die is that they fold the napkins wrong, or something to that effect. There would be so much angst and regret, so much emotion to eke out of that, whereas one would feel more justified in arguing about money or adultery.

Sort of related, at least in the scheme of big versus small, is a bit of an interview I caught with John Mayer. I found this little bit of wisdom on Twitter, and as an aside, I’m so disappointed in the direction that Twitter is headed under new management because it’s been such a great source of these bits of wisdom and discovering new books and writers. Anyhow, Mayer said, “Whenever I want to write a big song, I can’t. That’s when I get writer’s block, when I try to write a song to fill the entire galaxy. But if I write about something the size of a glass of water, a week later, I notice it’s got the universe in it.” Isn’t that great??? I think I actually swooned over this.

I’ve been giving more attention to the details in my writing, from word choice to trying to create nuanced emotions. It’s hard, but in a good way. Anyway, go read some Straczynski or listen to Mayer.