Pen's Blog - Posts Tagged "design"
A Work of Art by Nature
I had to go. I had to make sure it was still there.
And it was.
I used to walk in Briscoe Park years ago when I still lived in Snellville.
I am a creature of habit and I usually parked my car in a particular parking space. But one particular day, my parking spot was taken and I parked someplace else. In doing so, it brought to my attention a tree. One I had probably walked by before but never bothered to notice.
It was a pretty tree. In winter it was easy to see where new leaves and blooms would grow in the spring. But that wasn’t what made the tree unique. It was the shape in which the tree had grown that caught my attention.
It had begun rightly enough. The trunk of the tree was firmly planted in the ground but nature had taken over and the trunk curved to the right. In the midst of growing, the trunk further “dipped” into something of a curly-q; like the right side of the cursive letter ‘y’. It returned upward and continued growing.
I studied that tree for some length of time before getting out of my car. I was amazed. Nature had done this. Nature made this tree unique and different from its surrounding neighbors, but had allowed the tree to grow all the same. Nature determined how that tree would grow. The tree merely followed the design set upon it by nature.
As I admired the tree for its stamina and fortitude to grow and survive and admired Nature for allowing it to do so, I realized it was similar with people.
Nature predetermines much about each person she gives us: skin, eye and hair color, bone structure, height, disposition, sexuality. Nature has already determined so many aspects of this person. People then grow this child, shape this child.Oftentimes, people try to change this child in direct conflict with Nature’s design.
For example, when a child displays left-handedness, people often attempt to force the child to use his or her right hand. Why? Because we live in a ‘right-handed’ world. Rather than change the status quo, people attempt to change the child — in direct conflict with nature’s design for that child.
I wonder, if this were not so, how that child would grow? Would that child turn out as unique and enthralling as the tree at which I was gazing? Would the person they become be able to co-exist with their surrounding “trees”? Would their surrounding “trees” be able to accept them?
The tree — this little crooked tree — held an invaluable lesson for humanity. It successfully co-existed with surrounding trees. In no way was its own beauty, or the beauty of its neighboring trees, diminished by its being different. The uniqueness of this particular tree, its individuality, set it apart by design and its design enhanced the beauty of the surrounding trees. No one of them was any more — nor any less — beautiful or necessary than the other. Hence, nature became the artist.
As it is with people. Each person is unique in his or her own way. Nature has determined it. The uniqueness and individuality of one person should not be diminished by that of another person. The beauty of an individual is not diminished by the difference of the individual. And the beauty of the individual is capable of enhancing the beauty of surrounding individuals.
Yet people and society feel that that which nature has constructed has an obligation to conform. Why must we try to change what nature has constructed? Nature, in its infinite wisdom and influenced by the hand of God, knows what it is doing. What makes society think it knows better than Nature?
By putting labels on people, standing in judgment of people and ostracizing people on the basis of their differences, and forcing individuals to conform, society oppresses the beauty which Nature implanted. By asking individuals to conform to society’s status quo, Nature’s design is suppressed. As a result of this, the tree may grow straight and tall, but it comes nowhere near reaching its full potential.
We should appreciate what Nature gives us — from the trees she provides for aesthetic reasons to the people she provides as invaluable resources. We should open our eyes to the uniqueness and individuality of each person, regardless of their differences. Our differences are what make each and every one of us a work of art by nature.
And it was.
I used to walk in Briscoe Park years ago when I still lived in Snellville.
I am a creature of habit and I usually parked my car in a particular parking space. But one particular day, my parking spot was taken and I parked someplace else. In doing so, it brought to my attention a tree. One I had probably walked by before but never bothered to notice.
It was a pretty tree. In winter it was easy to see where new leaves and blooms would grow in the spring. But that wasn’t what made the tree unique. It was the shape in which the tree had grown that caught my attention.
It had begun rightly enough. The trunk of the tree was firmly planted in the ground but nature had taken over and the trunk curved to the right. In the midst of growing, the trunk further “dipped” into something of a curly-q; like the right side of the cursive letter ‘y’. It returned upward and continued growing.
I studied that tree for some length of time before getting out of my car. I was amazed. Nature had done this. Nature made this tree unique and different from its surrounding neighbors, but had allowed the tree to grow all the same. Nature determined how that tree would grow. The tree merely followed the design set upon it by nature.
As I admired the tree for its stamina and fortitude to grow and survive and admired Nature for allowing it to do so, I realized it was similar with people.
Nature predetermines much about each person she gives us: skin, eye and hair color, bone structure, height, disposition, sexuality. Nature has already determined so many aspects of this person. People then grow this child, shape this child.Oftentimes, people try to change this child in direct conflict with Nature’s design.
For example, when a child displays left-handedness, people often attempt to force the child to use his or her right hand. Why? Because we live in a ‘right-handed’ world. Rather than change the status quo, people attempt to change the child — in direct conflict with nature’s design for that child.
I wonder, if this were not so, how that child would grow? Would that child turn out as unique and enthralling as the tree at which I was gazing? Would the person they become be able to co-exist with their surrounding “trees”? Would their surrounding “trees” be able to accept them?
The tree — this little crooked tree — held an invaluable lesson for humanity. It successfully co-existed with surrounding trees. In no way was its own beauty, or the beauty of its neighboring trees, diminished by its being different. The uniqueness of this particular tree, its individuality, set it apart by design and its design enhanced the beauty of the surrounding trees. No one of them was any more — nor any less — beautiful or necessary than the other. Hence, nature became the artist.
As it is with people. Each person is unique in his or her own way. Nature has determined it. The uniqueness and individuality of one person should not be diminished by that of another person. The beauty of an individual is not diminished by the difference of the individual. And the beauty of the individual is capable of enhancing the beauty of surrounding individuals.
Yet people and society feel that that which nature has constructed has an obligation to conform. Why must we try to change what nature has constructed? Nature, in its infinite wisdom and influenced by the hand of God, knows what it is doing. What makes society think it knows better than Nature?
By putting labels on people, standing in judgment of people and ostracizing people on the basis of their differences, and forcing individuals to conform, society oppresses the beauty which Nature implanted. By asking individuals to conform to society’s status quo, Nature’s design is suppressed. As a result of this, the tree may grow straight and tall, but it comes nowhere near reaching its full potential.
We should appreciate what Nature gives us — from the trees she provides for aesthetic reasons to the people she provides as invaluable resources. We should open our eyes to the uniqueness and individuality of each person, regardless of their differences. Our differences are what make each and every one of us a work of art by nature.
Writing Around the Details
Some details simply aren't necessary. You don’t have to provide a detailed summary of injuries sustained to characters, don’t have to be or consult with a doctor for a prognosis. Those details can sometimes be more detrimental to a story than helpful to the reader.
A prime example of this is Jeff Lindsay’s Dexter By Design.
For those not familiar with Lindsay’s Dexter series: Dexter is a serial killer who kills serial killers. He mostly targets those guilty of crimes against children, primarily pedophiles who kill children. He is also a blood splatter analyst for the Miami Police Department. His foster sister, Deborah, also works for the Miami Police Department.
In Dexter By Design, Dexter and Deborah pay a visit to the home of a suspect. Deborah is stabbed in the process and hospitalized.
Not once throughout the ordeal does Lindsay go into detail about Deborah’s injuries. The only thing the reader knows is that “she lost a lot of blood.”
No medical jargon. No technical mumbo-jumbo. No lengthy explanations about where the knife penetrated, what organs (if any) that may have been affected and no platitudes about how lucky Deborah was.
Instead, Lindsay focuses on the real issue: the relationship between Deborah and Dexter.
Deborah recently discovered Dexter’s secret life and she was processing her feelings about the matter.
Dexter was processing how he felt about his sister. Feelings are something Dexter is always processing, whether he believes he has them or not.
There was already enough going on in the novel without it getting bogged down with medical details regarding Deborah’s injury. Going into those details would have been tedious instead of enlightening. Rather than have the reader stumble through the medical vernacular, Lindsay keeps the important stuff in the forefront while using Deborah’s injury as background drama.
Details about her injury simply aren’t necessary. It is enough to know that Deborah has sustained a potentially life-threatening injury and even more important is how Dexter reacts to it and feels about it. Details about the injury itself would have added insult (pun intended).
It is the foremost job of the writer to keep the story moving, keep the reader interested. Had Mr. Lindsay insisted upon including medical and technical details about Deborah’s injury, not one of those details would have been pertinent to the story. It would have just been information the reader had to slog through to get to the next interesting part.
This doesn’t mean you should forego any research that needs to be done. There are details that are imperative you know something about.
For instance, in the novel I am currently working on, I need to learn more about guns. This will require hands-on research: visiting a firing range, talking to people who are gun enthusiasts and probably handling and shooting a gun as well.
One of my characters is a superior markswoman (that’s right, I said woman). She’s going to know her gun, know it well and know how to handle it. This is an important detail in the novel and the research must be done.
I’m not crazy about guns. They scare me. I’ve never held one unless you count the childhood water gun. It is imperative that I overcome this, steel my nerves and do that research.
Weigh the importance of your details to your reader. Must they know that a conduit is not only a means of conveying water it also denotes a means of access? Do they really need to know the minute details of an injury or would it suffice they know it is life-threatening? Do they need to know the exact route to get to the buried treasure or is it more important what the characters endure to get there?
While the details can be interesting if they don’t move the story along or make a poignant point it may be best to write around them. Sometimes the how and the why of a thing isn’t as important as how the people affected deal with it.
It isn’t that details don’t matter. They do. As long as you expend the time and energy on the really important details.
A prime example of this is Jeff Lindsay’s Dexter By Design.
For those not familiar with Lindsay’s Dexter series: Dexter is a serial killer who kills serial killers. He mostly targets those guilty of crimes against children, primarily pedophiles who kill children. He is also a blood splatter analyst for the Miami Police Department. His foster sister, Deborah, also works for the Miami Police Department.
In Dexter By Design, Dexter and Deborah pay a visit to the home of a suspect. Deborah is stabbed in the process and hospitalized.
Not once throughout the ordeal does Lindsay go into detail about Deborah’s injuries. The only thing the reader knows is that “she lost a lot of blood.”
No medical jargon. No technical mumbo-jumbo. No lengthy explanations about where the knife penetrated, what organs (if any) that may have been affected and no platitudes about how lucky Deborah was.
Instead, Lindsay focuses on the real issue: the relationship between Deborah and Dexter.
Deborah recently discovered Dexter’s secret life and she was processing her feelings about the matter.
Dexter was processing how he felt about his sister. Feelings are something Dexter is always processing, whether he believes he has them or not.
There was already enough going on in the novel without it getting bogged down with medical details regarding Deborah’s injury. Going into those details would have been tedious instead of enlightening. Rather than have the reader stumble through the medical vernacular, Lindsay keeps the important stuff in the forefront while using Deborah’s injury as background drama.
Details about her injury simply aren’t necessary. It is enough to know that Deborah has sustained a potentially life-threatening injury and even more important is how Dexter reacts to it and feels about it. Details about the injury itself would have added insult (pun intended).
It is the foremost job of the writer to keep the story moving, keep the reader interested. Had Mr. Lindsay insisted upon including medical and technical details about Deborah’s injury, not one of those details would have been pertinent to the story. It would have just been information the reader had to slog through to get to the next interesting part.
This doesn’t mean you should forego any research that needs to be done. There are details that are imperative you know something about.
For instance, in the novel I am currently working on, I need to learn more about guns. This will require hands-on research: visiting a firing range, talking to people who are gun enthusiasts and probably handling and shooting a gun as well.
One of my characters is a superior markswoman (that’s right, I said woman). She’s going to know her gun, know it well and know how to handle it. This is an important detail in the novel and the research must be done.
I’m not crazy about guns. They scare me. I’ve never held one unless you count the childhood water gun. It is imperative that I overcome this, steel my nerves and do that research.
Weigh the importance of your details to your reader. Must they know that a conduit is not only a means of conveying water it also denotes a means of access? Do they really need to know the minute details of an injury or would it suffice they know it is life-threatening? Do they need to know the exact route to get to the buried treasure or is it more important what the characters endure to get there?
While the details can be interesting if they don’t move the story along or make a poignant point it may be best to write around them. Sometimes the how and the why of a thing isn’t as important as how the people affected deal with it.
It isn’t that details don’t matter. They do. As long as you expend the time and energy on the really important details.
