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A weird thing at the library in St. Louis made me change my writing
I was at the main branch downtown last month, just people watching for character ideas, when I saw a guy reading a book but tracing the words with his finger like a little kid. It made me think about how we process stories. Now I always try to write at least one scene where a character does something physical with text, like folding a note or smoothing a map. Does anyone else get ideas from watching random stuff like that?
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gray3141mo ago
Seems like a stretch to change your whole style from one guy at a library. Most people just read books normally.
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the_drew16d ago
Did you catch what the guy was tracing through the pages? I once saw a woman at a bus stop reading a dogeared paperback and she kept stopping to lick her thumb before turning each page. It got me thinking about how much of reading is actually a physical ritual, not just mental. Now I always include a scene where a character has to hold a letter up to candlelight or press a flower between pages. Those tiny manual gestures tell you way more about how a person connects to a story than the words ever could.
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joseph9571mo ago
Oh totally, I read that chefs taste food differently after losing their sense of smell.
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