Overcoming the Dreaded Mirror Scene

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Don't lie. I don't care if you've won eight Pulitzer prizes; you've done it. We all have.

You're typing out your first chapter/scene, and you find yourself in dire need of some subtle physical description of your main character. Enter the Mirror Scene.

Jane is getting ready to leave the house to start her day. She is deeply contemplating all of the things that make her amazing and "Jane"-like, when she passes by the hall mirror on her way out the door. She turns to the side for a better view and pays an insane amount of attention to each and every one of her features, from her brown eyes speckled with green to the wavy locks of black hair framing her china-doll face. Because, you know, every time I look in the mirror I feel a need to describe myself inside my head in case someone just so happens to be listening to my thoughts but unable to physically see me.

I can't say that I considered the mirror scene to be unproffesional or even  unoriginal until another writer mentioned that it caused her to roll her eyes every time it popped up in a narrative--especially when the writer had a solid reputation. Once I got to thinking about character descriptions, I began to detest the mirror scene as well. Character descriptions that reveal more than necessary have always been my pet peeve. The more that is left to the reader's imagination, the better. I hate the three page long descriptions of how the main character is wearing her curly brown hair and brand specific eyelet tank top that show up in books these days. Character descriptions are best left shorter than a couple of sentences. Anything other physical description that is necessary to the story will come out later as the character interacts with other characters and begins to gain a life of her own.

So what if you find yourself abusing the mirror scene? What on Earth do you do? When I began my first novel idea---a project that I didn't seriously want to finish, but only intended to use for practicing novel writing---I swear that I used a mirror scene to introduce every single character that wasn't seen through someone else's eyes. I kid you not. If it wasn't a mirror hanging on the wall, it was a pool of reflective water. I was only about eleven or twelve, so I didn't really know much about, well...anything. I'm surprised at myself for not noticing that this was way, way too much mirror.

I overcame the overuse of mirrors in character description by asking myself what the reader needed to know right then and there in the story about the protagonist. The readers may never know that she has a mole on her left hip, or that her skin has yellow undertones. There are all sorts of aspects of characters, some of them major backstory elements, that the writer never really reveals to the reader in their entirety. It's always better to have more character development than you're willing to reveal in the story than the other way around. Have Jane run her fingers through her hair while waiting for the bus if she's the nervous type. Let them get caught on snags in her locks if she has wild curls. Let the protagonist's personality reveal what little you must about her appearance. When it comes to writing, less is generally more, especially when it comes to character descriptions.

Of course, if I had just a dime for every existing exception, I'd be able to move out of my cardboard box and into a fancy gilded trailer.

Fiction Writing Books: The Only One You'll Ever Need

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Anyone who's read some of the writing help books out there on the market knows that they're a slew of problems with nearly each and every one of them. It's actually quite a bit harder to find one that helps you than it is to find one that discourages you from writing ever again. Seriously, sometimes I think that the writers of the aforementioned books write them just to discourage new writers and eliminate the competition.

The two biggest problems with writing help books:

--The writer almost always pushes his process on you, telling you that the reason why you've failed is because you weren't doing it his way. Oh, please. A writer's process is like a fingerprint. A true writing HELP book (the key word being help) will aid you in figuring out what your own writing process is and using it to the best of your abilities.

--Work is being pushed and creativity is being ignored. I wouldn't be lying if I said that I had read books that actually discouraged you from being creative. One book even went as far to as say that it really was all work and no play. Well, all work and no play makes a novel dull as hell. I would know. I got as far as my outline before I read over it and had to admit that it was directing the writing of one of the most boring books in history. I shudder to think of what it would have been like had I actually written the thing.

You can only imagine how discouraging it was for me to fail this hard while reading a book that tried as hard as it could to convince the reader that if he or she couldn't make their novel come out in ninety days with the instruction they were given, they were just a terrible writer and not cut out for the buisness. It was literally impossible NOT to fail, however, when I remember how I felt about my writing during those few weeks.

The writer of the book seemed to think that you should hate writing and dread the time you set aside for it as if it were the worst part of the entire day. If you enjoyed it, well, you just weren't pushing yourself hard enough. Sometimes professionals get so caught up in making their job look hard and important that they actually end up stripping all the passion out of it.

So what is an aspiring writer who's having trouble mastering the novel to do?

Well, I'm absolutely thrilled to say that I've actually come across a book that's helped me tremendously. I've taken classes on creative writing and can honestly say that they weren't as good as Alan Watt's The 90 Day Novel: Unlocking the Story Within.

That's exactly what I did. I followed the advice within the pages, and I can't even explain how it worked, but it did. I seriously didn't know that all of that plot was sitting inside of me waiting to explode onto the page. The story is almost one hundred percent different than it was when I went through it the first time I had novel writing doubts, and it's almost that much more interesting. It's not just a story---it's a good one. When I read his book, I get the impression that he actually gives a crap, rare as that is in today's world of self help books.

So if you've been trying to write a novel for the longest time (in my case, bordering on four to five years) and just can't get it to work no matter how hard you try, I highly recommend this book. Translation: GET IT. GET IT. GET IT.

I'm beginning to see what my writing process is now, and it's working so much better than trying to roll with everyone else's.

This book is a must for aspiring writers. The reviews are not lying. It really is that helpful, and I will swear on a stack of whatever religious documents you wish that I am not being paid a cent to say any of this stuff.