Look Out For That...Oh, Nevermind

I am accident prone.

Over the years I have been thrown off a golf cart (more than once), managed to separate my upper lip from the gums by way of a freak accident with a metal yardstick, my arms and legs are dotted with scars (mostly small ones) detailing years of haphazardness.

In any given week I can be counted on to bump into a bedpost, dresser, kitchen stool or wall. Yes, wall. I have fallen down stairs and up them. Kitchen knives have sliced into the same fingers that hammers have bashed in (once on the same day).

My most recent injury came as a result of a simple bit of landscaping. A couple hours of digging and sod cutting resulted in what my doctor called, "A raging bout of tendinitis."

If by raging he means painful, then I agree. My whole arm aches, well everything except for my right hand's (my writing hand) pinkie and ring finger -- those are numb from where the tendon is pressing down on the ulnar nerve. I can't feel those two fingers very well, so I'm not really certain if they hurt or not.

So what does this have to do with writing?

In the story of my life, I am but a character. And one of my most profound character traits is my ability to injure myself doing the most mundane things. If my life were but a creation of fiction, my character would be a bit less interesting if I were bit more graceful.

A story where dialogue amongst characters is flat and the writer fails to create a picture for the reader are ineffective. It is the difference between telling and showing. Being a storyteller doesn't mean that one can get off without creating a scene, a setting, a cast -- a movie for the mind. So the next time you read a story, think about what makes each character unique, what sets them apart from the other players in the tale. And the next time you sit down to write a story, strive to create real characters, the sort that the reader can see, the sort they might want to read about again.