Seasoning Your Writing

Books need to taste different from one another.

Now, I’m not talking literally. Please take your ereader out of your mouth. It’s not sanitary. If, like me, you love used books, please also prevent yourself from ingesting the pages. You don’t know where they’ve been.

What I mean is that books need to feel different as you read them. If each book has the exact same style of prose, they’re going to blend into each other. If you’ve read a fair amount, you know this for a fact.

Try reading a series that was planned out ahead of time. At some point, you won’t know what happened in which book. They all feel the same. I have that problem with Jan Karon’s Mitford series. It’s a delightful, sprawling series about an Anglican preacher in an Appalachian town. However, outside a very few events, I couldn’t tell you what happened in which book. It all blurs together. The same thing happens to me with C. S. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower books. Look, Horatio’s the captain for… five of the novels? Which thing happened in which of them? Got me. Or how about Brent Week’s Lightbringer saga? Oh, fantastic novels, all, but what happens in which? I dunno.

I would argue in single series, that’s not a bad thing at all. You want book one to feel like it’s the same setting and characters as book four. However, if you move from one series to another, it should feel different. Brent Week’s Lightbringer is so not his Night Angel. One is unique modern epic fantasy. The other is dark fantasy. Similar, sure, but not the same.

And that’s what’s causing me problems right now. My first series features Madelyn, a kind girl who rescues people. She is a fully fleshed-out character. My second series stars Cade, a boy who loves exploring. No problem there. Two very different characters, different settings, and different supporting casts.

But right now I’m working on another series. This one is also fantasy and stars another girl, about the same age as Madelyn.

And now I’m running into some problems. The settings are vastly different, but just similar enough I have to work to make sure that the new main character doesn’t accidentally become Madelyn.

One of the ways I’m doing that is by seeing the world through new eyes. The new character is an artist. That’s changing how I describe things. I’m dwelling more on colors. I’ve had to look up synonyms and color charts to try and find just the right palette that this character would use. I’m also describing shapes in more rich detail.

And that means that the final product will taste far different to a reader. Even though Madelyn and my new protagonist do share some similarities, they are not the same character. The prose itself will reflect that.

I’m also doing some surface things, of course. This new character has a nervous tick of chewing on her lips. She’s also afraid of heights. Unlike Cade, she doesn’t freeze up under pressure. Like him, she’s driven to explore, but more so she can get more ideas for her art.

As you write, I’d encourage you to try and flavor your prose in different ways, particularly as you write from different points of view. Does your main character taste the air more often? Or does she view things as a dance? All of these change your vocabulary and alter the taste of your work. It’ll keep your readers from becoming bored, and it’ll enrich your writing.