Adding Subtle (And Not so Subtle) Charm to Your Writing

"Marley was dead, to begin with. This one fact you must believe or nothing you're about to see will make any sense at all."

The Muppet Christmas Carol

Dickens "A Christmas Carol" drops that instruction succinctly into the opening lines of his much beloved tale of redemption. And like those words, straightforward and direct, here's a thought for the lot o' youse:

Your "charming" might be someone else's "annoyance".

Do you remember vintage holiday notepaper like this???? #LOVEVINTAGE!!!

Stop sighing, don't fret, don't worry.... you know it's true, not everyone's attracted to the same sort of story, we see that every stinkin' day around here. You catch glimpses of literary wonders, fantasy lore, children's classics, old and new, historical romantic comedy with cowboys (a genre all its own!!!) heart-stirring women's fiction and endearing romance... and the regularly scheduled "how to do this and that" columns and books folks tout.

But let's talk "Charming"!!! Not like the prince, most of them are somewhat metro-guys, I mean really???? That's like the old commercial where Barbie disses Ken and runs off in the Jeep with G. I. Joe...

Now that's CHARMING, LOL!!!  :)

Defining charm isn't as simple as going to dictionary.com and pulling up their take. In some ways it's indefinable because your reader will decide if it's truly charming... or drivel. And that's the chance you take every time you sit down to write a stinkin' story.

WHY DO YOU DO IT???? WHY, I ASK????  (beats chest, lamenting, desperately trying to save you from yourself!!!)

Well, here's why: because it's God's spirit within us, touching hearts, feeding yearning souls. And if you don't believe that, well, you're being stubborn and/or silly.... have some eggnog and some of my sugar cookies featured over HERE AT YANKEE BELLE CAFE TODAY and if peeking at those sweet cookie-baking babies doesn't make you smile, then you need to watch The Muppet Christmas Carol, quick!!! Before another Christmas passes you by!

Elements of charming in no particular order:

Long, sweet looks (creates a memorable image for reader and protagonist)
Quick glances (builds anticipation)
Chest-stirring emotion rising (raises expectation)
Dimpled babies (Pfft. If I have to explain this, then you need more eggnog!)
Newborns
Twinkle lights
Starlight
Moonlight
(note that dappled light, oblique light, minimal light creates more of an emotional scene setting than obvious full-day sunlight)
Music (plays to memories or longing)
Strong wind (evokes physical and emotional feelings)
Light wind (teases feelings or prolongs moment)
Passing breeze (a tickle or tingle of emotion)
Children playing (for people who don't like kids in romance, THIS STOPS THEM COLD. Not everyone is urchin-friendly, but I just figure they're going to toddle off and read someone else's books.... because I love the hope of children and new life in my stories!!!)

People who love families and hope will love this amazing cover! Yay, Art Team!!! And yes, you know I always give youse a link in case you need to BUY THIS BOOK LIKE RIGHT NOW!!!!  :)

Small-town events: Can include spiritual events like prayer services, Advent walks, living Nativities, outdoor venue weddings, and yes, funerals. The charm of a life well-played, well-spent and the effect on the people around that life can be ingratiatingly beautiful... and poignant. Think Matthew's funeral in Anne of Green Gables)

Small-town events, non-spiritual:  Festivals, fairs, dog shows (!!!!) 4-H gatherings, horse shows, regattas, snowman-building contests, tree-lightings, quilt shows, centennials (for the Western half of country) bicentennials (for the Eastern half of the country) Founders' Days, church bazaars....

City neighborhoods: Razing old buildings to make way for new, saving old buildings, cleaning store-fronts, turning old blocks into "mini-malls", creating neighborhood associations, porch gardens, community gardens, new "little" shops (think old-time America, the nostalgia is returning!) bakeries, dry cleaners, Chinese laundries, little pubs, parks with playgrounds, ice skating rinks, new lighting (this is subtle but huge, light is a factor for a lot of "charm" emotion), awnings, new signs, clean sidewalks, sand-blasted buildings... Think "fresh and new" or "washed-and-painted old" in this setting.

Quaint characters
Quirky characters
Colorful characters (and by that I mean physical and emotional/mental images. I love to use a normal American hodge-podge of multi-cultural in my work because it's real... And that reality charms the reader because it speaks to our normalcy and the way life works in the real world. LOVE IT!!!!)
Hints of twang/dialect
Walking babies
Watching toddlers stumble, fall and get back up (image of gumption)

Yes, shameless plug, I know, but this 4-Star read is the LAST Summerside Press release... MARY CONNEALY SWEARS IT'S MY FAULT, BUT IT'S NOT!!!!  This sweet story, set in 1947 Manhattan sweeps you back in time to a post-war changing world... and what that change means to Karen O'Leary and Officer Mike Wolzak.
And yes!!!! HERE'S YOUR "BUY" BUTTON!!!  :)

Oh, there's so much more!!!!  In every experience we have, we can usually see the "charm" side of it if we re-examine.

Now if you're determined to be Debby-Downer, well, I got nothin' for ya' sister! But that doesn't mean you're wrong... It just means we embrace different styles of writing and there's an audience out there for most of us, ready and waiting for that Next Big Thing.

Or sweet, evocative romance.

Come on in, and feel free to add stuff to the list! Examples are wonderful, too, it's way fun to play with words.... settings.... actions.... to evoke the right element of emotion. I'm tossing names into the cat dish (it will NOT be clean because I'm not home to do it!) but no worries!!! The $20 Amazon gift card WILL BE CLEAN, I promise! And you can spend it on whatever you want because who can't use an extra bit of change at Christmas????

I'm in New York City today, hanging out in Manhattan with Finance Boy and Lawyer Boy so I'll be hit and miss (I might have to budge some sweet, overworked Manhattan professional off his Starbucks stool to chat, but I'LL DO IT!!!! As long as my phone holds out! Cue the lights! The music! The tree at Rockefeller Center! Ruthy's In Manhattan and Loving It!!!!

And I'll let you know if I see Derek ambling around Midtown, shopping for his Mom!!!  :)


Ruth Logan Herne loves being part of Seekerville, she's a multi-published author with over a half-million books in print, and every now and again she pokes her head up from her rabbit hole in upstate New York to pester normal folks, check out the snow levels, then ducks back inside. She's married to a very patient man, has a slew of kids and grandkids, and isn't afraid to see what happens to dust as it ages. Visit her webpage at ruthloganherne.com or find her on facebook at www.facebook.com/ruthloganherne where she's known to post fun pics of cute kids and small animals while shamelessly self-promoting her sweet books!