Gross Stuff

     We're skipping the rule thing today because the top of my head is numb and that's where the rules come from. So, were going to talk about icky stuff because that doesn't come from the top of my head.

     Do you do it? Do you describe the stuff that makes it hard to swallow? I'm not talking about bodily functions, though I do some of that and catch hell from my critique partners for it. But, I think they may be right and will be taking some of that out.

     I'm talking about having a character reach into the maggot filled maw of a dead body to retrieve a tooth. Do you give the reader the details? How it feels? Smells? The roiling of the characters stomach? The watering eyes, the retching? Do you give them the experience to the best of your ability?

     I do. Sometimes I get a little queasy and watery-eyed while I write it, but, I still do it. I could argue that it's our duty as writers to accurately report the character's experience, but that's horseapples. The story would not suffer from the lack of detail if I focused on the character's emotional upheaval caused by the doing of the deed. The reader doesn't need to know  what the dead man's tongue felt like but I describe it anyway. I do the icky sticky details and I love it. I do it because I can. Because I'm good at it. Because it's my style.

     Style is a blending of your unique personality, quirky though it may be, and your writing ability. Style evolves over time and number of words written. Your style today may differ with what your style will be twenty years and twenty-million words from now. And who gives a frak. (Sorry, been watching Battlestar Galactica)

     Seriously though, write the things you like to write so your style is really your style. Probably you should try to incorporate things that smart people say you need, but, don't get weird about it. Relax, have fun, think about things people tell you but don't stress. If you think you got good advice, take it, if not, ignore it.

     In the end, it's your story and your style.