You should be spending every second of your free time either writing, editing, or reading. Right?
Wrong.
You’re missing a crucial part of the creative process. The key to everything from fixing plot holes to breathing life into your characters, to finding that one-in-a-million first sentence. In fact, it’s basically the only fix-all there is for writing. And all it takes is a little time and paper.
This secret, powerful, indispensable weapon is…
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Kramer bursting through Jerry’s door. Garfield kicking Odie off the table. Michael Scott turning an innocent statement into an innuendo by adding “that’s what she said!”
What do all these things have in common?
They are all arsidities!
What the heck is an arsidity?
Wait a second, isn’t that called a “motif”?
Yes and no. A motif is a type of arsidity. A motif represents something – for instance, the sound of footsteps in A Tale of Two Cities represents the oncoming troubles of the characters, particularly Carton’s fate. An arsidity doesn’t always represent something, and is not always “important” – it is just a detail that adds depth to your characters and soul to your story. Arsidities help make a story and its characters more lovable, meaningful, charming, or funny.
More examples of arsidities:
The Lord of the Rings (Tolkien) – “my precious”
The Outsiders (Hinton) – “gallant” and “stay gold”
Ocean’s Eleven – Rusty, Brad Pitt’s character, is eating in almost every scene
Silence of the Lambs – Hannibal Lector never blinks
Star Trek – Spock’s famous “Live long and prosper” gesture; Bones’ “Damn it, Jim, I’m a doctor not a [fill in the blank]”
None of these arsidities are vital to the plots of these books, movies, and TV shows, but can you imagine them without their arsidities? What a dull world it would be!
Do you use arsidities in your novel? How have they enhanced your character development, world building, and voice?
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