You walk into a bookstore, looking for just the right read. A cover blurb here, a dust-jacket there, an inviting display table—they catch your attention, and you thumb through some pages. Best-selling hardcovers, a rack of new paperbacks, an author you like, your book-club selection. How do you choose? Do you read a random chapter? Start at the beginning? Check the number of pages?
I pick a book based on it's white space. I'm not enticed by pages jam-packed with unrelieved words. Long, mind-numbing paragraphs invite skimming, and tiny margins scream "boring." White space suggests dialogue, characters, time to breathe and enjoy the story, or helpful sub-chapters and room to examine the facts. I like a built-in place to take a cocoa break and turn a book upside down for the night.
Real life needs some white space, too.
When I was a young mom, the modern motto was "I can bring home the bacon, fry it up in the pan . . ." implying that a woman could have it all, be it all and do it all. There was a built-in shame factor to that thinking. I assumed there was something wrong with me because I couldn't do it all; I was embarrassed by my deficiency. So I put a lot of energy into appearing to be as capable as I thought everyone else was. Eventually I was just skimming all those long, unfocused paragraphs, missing the meaning of my story. I needed some white space.
Wise editing makes a book readable. If a writer stuffed the pages with every locale, adventure, romance, or thrill she thought up, it would be an overwhelming fantasy. Even the characters would be confused by the dialogue and the plot could unravel. Enlightened authors, of books or life stories, learn to create some white space.
You're writing your life story—
take time to enjoy every chapter.
"Eventually I was just skimming all those long, unfocused paragraphs, missing the meaning of my story. I needed some white space."
ReplyDeleteGee, I have surely needed that reminder more than a few times in my life. Thanks
I, too, choose books based on white space. But that's hard to do now, since I buy my books on Nook. It's fast, easy and I don't leave the house, but I feel cheated. I love the smell of books, the feel of the pages. Too much of my life is electronic. . .
ReplyDeleteI agree! Lots of self-published authors, trying to be economical, stuff their pages, not knowing that the narrow margins and lack of white space turn their readers off. And I love short chapters, because that way there's always time for one more chapter. I'm not sure what the larger significance is. . . .
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome reminder to live right now.
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