My most
recent short story was abandoned because I wound up not liking the content.
Instead I’ve switched to heavy pre-writing for my second novel-length piece of
writing. Typically, I wouldn’t share pre-write content, but this is kind of
fun.
Recently I had
the chance to hear Ivan Doig speak. Doig is a National Book Award finalist, a
cowboy, and is by his own admission in danger of becoming a prolific writer. A
central element of writing he discussed were “crystalline details.” They’re the
kind of description you read that tells you more than sensory details. They’re
the calloused hands of a working man, overly-touchy greeting of a politician,
and nervous nail-biting of an anxious shut-in. Okay, they don’t always have to
be about hands.
At the
beginning of my story in its current draft, the main character, Chess Connor,
returns to the dying hometown he barely made it out of and runs into a bad
memory: Seth, the best friend that nearly led him to a life on the wrong side
of the law. Without spoiling Seth any more, here are some of his crystalline
details. See if you can tell what kind of character he is. Enjoy.
Physical
appearance
·
Tan,
sharp eyes, expressive, thick beard.
·
CAT
hat, working shirt, heavy jeans, workman’s Romeos, bowie knife on hip,
suspenders.
·
Differences
from when Chess knew him as a kid—lined face, still has a dirty complexion,
same wolfish grin, burgeoning beer belly.
·
Sharp
smell of heavy sweat around him, smell of a dirt road, beer on his breath
·
Chess
wrote a story based on him when he was starting out as a writer. In the meeting
he notices that he appears almost exactly as he pictured him. Seth mentions
this on first meeting. It’s the only one of Chess’s stories he’s read.
·
Takes
off his hat to soak it in water and splat it back on his head, hawks and spits
frequently, kicks up dust when other people are talking, stands either square
with hands on hips and feet apart or with arms crossed and head cocked.
·
Speaking
style: uses imperative, very few complete sentences, hits final words like
they’re an accusation, eyes constantly scan up and down other person’s body as
he speaks.
Favorite
foods
·
At
home: primarily microwaved meals.
·
Gets
burgers/fast food and leaves the containers around endlessly.
·
Drinks
water when working manual labor, but nowhere else.
·
Owns
a lot of plastic drinking cups.
·
Favorite
place to eat out is a burger place in his town. It’s greasy and messy with a
sharp, tangy flavor, but he can only afford it once per pay period.
·
Eats
NO vegetables.
·
Drinks
“nutrition” (protein) shakes.
Eating habits
·
Quick
·
Acts
like there’s no one else at the table
·
Licks
fingers
·
Burps
·
Sniffs
and wipes nose.
·
Outsider
would think he hadn’t eaten in days.
Favorite…
·
Books
o None.
o Guns ‘N Ammo mags.
o Auto Trader.
o Plenty of porn to be found lazily hidden
in his home.
·
Music
o Country western.
o Likes to sing along in his truck.
o Thinks every song is about him, even
though he’s never had a family, steady job, or a dog.
o Owns a guitar but never learned more than
a couple chords.
·
Movies
o Watches a lot of action movies. Every
time he finishes one he waits for someone to challenge him to a fight.
·
Board
games
o Poker. Does it just to bet, and will look
for ways to bet on things that aren’t poker. Very likely to offer you $5 if you
can spit farther than him.
Hobbies
·
Things
that make him feel “country:” donuts in dirt pits, shooting guns, going to
fairs/rodeos
·
Gets
old scrap and takes it apart sometimes. Thinks it’s making him a machine
aficionado, but in reality it’s just copper to sell.
·
Watches
enough TV to leave a distinct shape on his couch.
Crystalline
details are a really cool thing to read for. If you look for them in some of
your favorite characters you’ll find tons, especially in popular and fun works
like Harry Potter and Star Wars. If you can think of any crystalline details or
detail categories like I have above I’d love for you to leave a comment so I
can steal your ideas.
