Hello Everyone,

Happy New Year. Welcome to the Insecure Writer’s Support Group, which has a monthly blog hop on everything related to writing.  This is my first post with the group, and I’m excited to be a part of it.  The question this month is what writing rule do you wish you’d never heard? 

Here’s my moment to moan about the whole wandering body parts thing.  (You are correct. I get zapped on this by my crit partners and editors). But half the time, frankly, I don’t see why those body parts have to stay put.

Let’s take a look.  Here’s one example. First is wrong, second is the correction.

  1. She scanned the forest, her eyes settling on a cluster of small, almost bush-like trees, vs
  2. She scanned the forest, her gaze settling on a cluster of small, almost bush-like trees.

I know, eyeballs can’t settle on trees or dart around they room or be caught by someone (e.g. catch his eye).  They are stuck in their sockets (unless you write science fiction or fantasy).   Its not as if  the meaning is lost.  Anyone reading sentence one or two would understand the trees caught her attention. A writer can only use the word gaze so often in a manuscript.

Moreover,  I think their are times when the wandering body part makes for a more interesting sentence. Such as,

  1. His hands clutched the dog’s fur, vs
  2. He clutched the dog’s fur.

Doesn’t the first version sound a little sexier and much more intriguing–as if you could feel the softness of the pelt and see the whites on the man’s knuckles?  After all, he is using his hands to do the clutching!  But rules are rules.

Aren’t they?

Anyone else moving those body parts around with pride?

Visit the other bloggers, and see how they answered the question or just what they have to say about this crazy journey we call writing.

 

Related

16 Replies to “My body parts wander, don’t yours? #IWSG #Writing”

  • Welcome to the IWSG!

    I agree with the “eyes” one. That imagery totally creeps me out. 🙂

    I could go either way on the “hands clutching” one though. Both of those sentences make sense to me.

  • When I wrote romance, the eyes/gaze thing was HUGE. Once I started writing children’s books, I never heard it again. I asked an author if she’d heard that rule and she said “no.” I still stick by the “eyes don’t roam” rule, though!

    • Interesting how its importance may be genre specific. Maybe in romance, we overuse the eyes/gaze and its just more noticeable.

  • While I don’t find the hands one sexy because of the dog, lol, I do side with that one moreso than the eyes one, as I do instantly imagine the eyes floating over there. lol But I wouldn’t say change it unless I saw too many instances of it happening.

    Welcome to IWSG!

    • Thanks, Deb. I’m glad to participate. Editors tend to focus the eyes more than any other body part, but I’ve been zapped for hands.

  • LOL! This is a new rule for me, Shari: wandering body parts! I’m sure it’s a rule I’ve unknowingly violated many times. Now I will no longer be blissfully unaware when my characters’ eyeballs roam, settle, or get caught. Welcome to the IWSG ~ fun, thought-provoking post!

    • I had never thought about it as a rule either until I got zinged a lot for it. Not sure its a standard, but some folks feel strongly about it. Thanks for dropping by.

  • This one is hard for me too. Especially during those kissing scenes. Parts are always doing things on their own, which may be true in IRL, but in the books I get yelled at. 🙂

    Great post.
    Heather M. Gardner
    Co-host, IWSG

  • Welcome to IWSG. Frankly, before I learned that “rule” it never bothered me while reading. Since then, I think it’s a stupid rule. Rolling one’s eyes is an expression anyone who’s raised a teenage girl knows quite well. Although I do write sci-fi, I don’t mean rolling eyes across the floor. I can’t wait until my editor gets my WIP. She’s going to roll her eyes over how much eye rolling is in it. LOL

  • The wandering eyes were edited right out of my first book, so I did remember to keep them in their sockets after that. (And I do write science fiction.)
    Sorry I’m late but I want to welcome you to the IWSG!

Comments are closed.