I'm Angela and I'm Addicted to Superlatives!!

{Every}thing is billed as the {BEST} ever! the {MOST} ever! We have polls and lists and we like the stuff at the top of them; we like the biggest, prettiest, ugliest, funniest; the videos on YouTube with the most hits; the most popular breed of dog; the hottest selling gadgets. We're fans of the best baseball player of all time; we read the best sellers…

Oh, I am so not being critical! I'm just pointing out the obvious. I, myself, am a Superlative Junkie:

"I just got a paper cut. That is The Worst." ["Really? The worst?" my husband {always} clarifies].
"The sun is shining! This is The Best Day Ever!"
"I haven't had lunch. I'm Starving." [Starving is a word used all too freely by Westerners who have no idea what it means to starve. Skipping a meal is not starving. Skipping a day of meals is not starving.]

You would think being a writer would mean that I chose my spoken words more carefully. But my propensity for unedited expression {always} results in supreme generalizations. I love to love. I love to protest injustice. I love to express. Put the three together…Yowza. Oh, I also LOVE exclamation points!!!!!!

I know intellectually that the silent beats at the symphony are just as important as the swelling notes; my artistic training has been clear that white space is just as important as deep bright bold shapes; my husband is teaching me that sometimes it's OK to be quiet and let a comment pass unremarked (did you know that? is that why my mom was {always}  advising me to "think before I speak?" Is it common knowledge that not everything has to be remarked upon? This is important information people should know.)

I'm in a recovery program for people addicted to superlatives: it's called writing books. Even in writing fiction, my goal is to tell the truth and to do that, {everything} can't be superlative, especially my characters, or else it's {all} flat and lifeless; there's no rhythm, no room for struggle or progress, no silent beats to let that last note resonate to the core of your being and shake you loose, no island of "negative space" to let a sea of color saturate your soul without drowning you. I'm learning. And though I might not be the {BEST} learner EVER, I am having the MOST fun(!!!!!)