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April 24, 2007
Thank you, Elizabeth George
I had read several Elizabeth George mysteries -- set in jolly old England -- before I ever had a chance to hear her speak. Imagine my confusion when this petite, curly-headed woman stepped up to the podium and began to talk about writing. . .in a good old American accent. Turns out, California native Elizabeth George is such a fan of things British that when she began writing, she decided to ignore that advice to "write what you know" and instead wrote what she was crazy about, namely luxurious English mysteries. What a concept!
At that lecture, I picked up a copy of her Write Away, intending to read it right away (bad pun intended). So much for good intentions. Last week -- several years after that lecture -- I threw George's book in my bag as I left for the Texas Library Association conference and then for the Southern Kentucky Book Festival. Thanks to those long plane rides, I had plenty of time to read Write Away. And I devoured it! Though George says it's geared to new writers, I highlighted so much of the book, I nearly passed out from the fumes. What I especially fell in love with was the concept of THADs: Talking Head Avoidance Devices.
I'd written an article myself on anchoring dialogue to avoid conversations between characters that appear to float around in space (it may even still be posted on the Institute of Children's Literature website) but George takes the concept to the next level. And how elegantly simple her solution: give your characters something to do as they talk.
She thoughtfully provides a list of ideas near the end of the book, but when I gave my Tuesday night class the assignment to come up with THADs for their characters, they came up with some corkers: changing a baby's diaper, arranging a bouquet of flowers, skipping stones at a creek, kicking a soccer ball, playing tennis, and watching a building burn. What they found is that these activities not only grounded their characters in a specific time and place, the ensuing dialogue carried more weight and more meaning.
I pushed my students to think of THADs that were surprising in some way, given their stories. So, for example, in one student's futuristic tale where water is more precious than premium gasoline, arranging a bouquet of flowers in a water-filled vase packs a powerful punch. Two teenage boys talking about whether a certain girl likes one of them has a whole different impact when the conversation takes place while one of the teens is changing his infant son's diaper. And a plump preteen's walk to town in a nice dress and high heels reflects her 1930's walk into adulthood.
Give it a try yourself. Prepare to be amazed! And prepare to have a darned good time, too.
Posted by kirby at April 24, 2007 09:41 PM