Safety Parameters and Acceptable Limits

July 2014 

With horror writing abounding over in Zombie July, let's talk about our own writing limits.

Remember - keep reading and responding to your fellow WriYers! I want to see some connections happening 

Limits
What will you absolutely not write no matter what?
Horror. Ugh- I greatly dislike horror- refuse to watch it, hate reading it, can't get it out of my brain and am stuck with it in replay for far too long. Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde- brrrr. Thanks, English Lit class. Frankenstein wasn't anywhere near as bad. Though, in my odd little worldview, zombies do not necessarily count as horror... Even if the story tends to lead toward it. Um... not sure, besides the above mentioned? Swearing, except as part of a specific character. If they must needs swear, I'll make up my own- it's more authentic anyway.
And where do you put your foot down in your genre? Do you write fantasy but not darker than a medium shade of grey? Yes? But I see that as more of a lack of development as a writer than a limit? I am more limited by my current abilities to pull things off...


Bonus: For fun, what genre will you never ever ever write?
     Contemporary realistic/ slice of life fiction. Bleh- can't stand the stuff. It's like Vegemite- some people's bread and butter, but to me it tastes like poison.

Shall I describe it to you- or do you want me to find you a box?

Our purple month means we have to start talking about the most deadly weapon in the writer's arsenal - purple prose. Too much description can kill a man... So let's talk about our methods of sprinkling it!


Description
How much is too much for you? I'm actually not sure- I greatly enjoy Tolkein, but I can't stand the third and fourth Eragon installments. I guess- for me, it's instinctive, not planned.
How little is too little? Adjectives are brilliant. Adverbs are better. Some phrases make the chapter- use them. I often get frusterated because I have difficulty describing a scene the way I want to.
How do you find your happy medium? WHat is this "medium" you speak of?
What must you describe about every character when you write? ... Oddly enough, their eyes.
What's the worst way to use and/or reveal character descriptions? All at the same time for multiple characters. Ugh- I hate that. It gets so confusing!
How much of the scenery do you put into your novel and why? Um- not enough. I'm working on it. Fantasy novels- it's still in development. You know what that's like, right?