A few weeks back, I briefly mentioned the difference between being more brazen and direct with the content of your stories, and the subtle grace of tenderly sliding it past your audience...along with developing the natural instincts to know which is which. Well, here we are now. This time around we’ll be talking about when it’s best to just be straightforward and bluntly say what you need to say, and when that’s the best plan of action for certain parts of your fiction, where it hits hard, its aim is true, and you deliver a heavy blow when one needs to be dealt out to your audience. Sometimes, you just need a sledgehammer to make your point, you know?

But there are going to be other times, when skill, experience, and finesse, is the better way to go. Not to avoid making your point, but in order to have it penetrate and seriously shine when many of your readers don’t even see it coming. You can’t always be so heavy handed with it. Use some style instead. It works too.

There’s a balance that you have to set up for yourself and maintain in your fiction for the sake of consistency and solidarity of characters and events as they move forward on with another. This might vary from writer to writer, so please feel free to put your two cents in and add any tips from your personal experience down below. Me, personally...I like to try to create a balance of both whenever and wherever I can. It really depends on what I’m writing and how heavy the subject matter is. Even then, I attempt to keep both the power and the finesse methods as a part of my story, and I use them when I think they’ll suit me best.

Before I get started, I wanted to use this as a metaphor to demonstrate exactly what I’m talking about here. Now this is a legendary martial artist by the name of Donnie Yen, and he’s going up against the legendary boxer Mike Tyson! Now...style and finesse wise? There is absolutely no WAY that Mike Tyson could win in a fight with Donnie Yen. He could dance circles around him all day long. It’s just not possible. Hehehe! BUT...going toe to toe with Mike Tyson, blow for blow, with his strength and aggressive approach….forget it! He’d break every bone in Donnie Yen’s body! LOL!

I remember seeing Mike Tyson matches when I was younger and he was just hitting his prime...and JESUS! I wouldn’t wish that on anybody! But this is the pure representation of what you can do with the themes and messages in your writing if you work at it. Expertise and flourish can take you a long way, and you can win with that...but every now and then, one giant, POWERFUL, haymaker punch can really make one hell of a difference! And sometimes, the fight is over right then and there!

Even though both styles were so different...they respect each other, and can be more compatible than most would believe...knowing which one to use and when can make all the difference.

So this is what I’m talking about when it comes to being light handed or heavy handed. Being slick and tactical or skillful and lashing out with raw power. If you guys read stories of mine that are a bit more comical or romantic in nature...I think a light handed approach works better more times than not. So, I get a chance to say what it is that I want to say with the story, but there’s no need to clobber my readers over the head with the idea of two boys having a serious crush on one another and wanting to build that up so that it can eventually become something more. I do that with a bit of fear and worry, with a little bit of insecurity sprinkled in for seasoning. Hehehe! But they’re not racing towards each other with their horniest impulses on full display and expressing their undying love within the first few days of meeting in the cafeteria. I mean...I’m not going to say that kind of thing never happens...but romantic fiction’s sake….where’s the fun in that? Its 2023. People can swipe right on their cell phone and get that now. There’s nothing magical about it to me, you know? Why even bother writing a story, or even a short story, that’s no more involved or nuanced than the moving thumbnail on your favorite porn site?

The would be heavy handed. And I know there’s a huge audience that just wants a quick, five minute story, to get off to and then simply rollover and go to sleep for the night...but I want more. And I’m always striving to create something that will give my audience an experience that they can remember when it’s over. Something that they might read again some time, or possibly recommend to someone who’s looking for the same. When it comes to simple themes and easygoing storylines and plots...I find finesse to be my best tool. It doesn’t have to be hardcore, you don’t have to be overly graphic with it, or struggle to really hammer home any points that you feel need to be made for that tale, unless you feel it’s a highly essential part of the story itself. Look at and analyze your content and story length to figure out whether you need to make it anything more than it is. It’s not always a good move to complicate a simple ‘boy meets boy’ story. Let it breathe, and be what it is. It may be exactly what someone out there is looking for at that particular moment in time. Allow them to have that without polluting it with a whole bunch of ‘extra’. Remember...there are going to be times when simplicity is key. We all have to learn to teach ourselves when those moments arise.

Now then...if the overall genetic make up of my story is centered around a much bigger issue or a particular theme that I’m trying to speak on and bring to the forefront, even though I have my more ‘surgical’ parts where I’m dealing with it in a subtle fashion...if it’s something that I to burst through and become something much more significant in the narrative that I’m putting together at that moment...then there are going to be times when that blinding haymaker punch is going to really highlight whatever it is that I’m doing and add power and urgency to the message that is going to run throughout the entirety of the project. My best example for this practice would be in my completed series, “My Only Escape”, where the main theme is focused on the struggles and difficulties of a teen boy who is dealing with horrific domestic abuse from his own father. Now, this is still a love story, and there are many rewarding moments being offered in the story concerning the boy that he has fallen so hard for and is giving him hope better days in the future...but the abuse is definitely there in the story. If anything, it’s practically another character, having a huge influence over what does and doesn’t happen from the first chapter until the last. I can’t treat that with kid gloves. Those are times when the hard hitting slam of a sledgehammer is needed. Do you know what I mean? The story doesn’t have the same realism or the same impact if I just glance over the fact that this kid is dealing with horrible situations on an almost daily basis, and write a story that simply tells the ‘candy and gumdrops’ part of it all instead. It wouldn’t be saying what I want it to say. And it wouldn’t make much sense without the series of sucker punches that this story delivers throughout the protagonist’s journey towards getting through it.

We struggle in search of triumph. Without the second part...it’s just gratuitous violence with no rhyme or reason. And it just doesn’t land the same way.

This is not to say that using a bit of finesse isn’t useful to you as a writer, because it most definitely is! It’s essential! Everything can’t be all black eyes and bloody noses, hehehe! That’s just ridiculous. What I’m saying is...if you can tell a simple story without a whole lot of excess drama weighing down...then go for it. You don’t need to have everything be a major epic story of man’s inhumanity to man and a commentary on the social condition. Some story’s are just stories...and that’s more than enough. Let them be what they are, and leave it at that.

However, if the very core of your story is tackling subjects like suicide, homelessness, substance abuse, severe bullying, racism, or the loss or death of a parent...then how can you possibly ever hope to tell that tale by mere scratching the surface and not really digging deep into the emotions and involvement of your readers? Sometimes you really have give issues like that a much harder hit than some of your readers will be comfortable with. And then hit them with it a few more times. If you’ve got something serious to say, then say it seriously. It’s too late to beat around the bush.

If you don’t use your sledgehammer when given the opportunity, then people are going to start wondering why you backed down and started pulling your punches now. Go hard, or go home, you know?

So when do you recognize the need to use it or not use it? Well, as I said before, that really changes from writer to writer, and it also depends on what kind of writer you are. Some authors prefer the more direct approach, where others may find that be a bit too much like pushing an agenda on your audience and being manipulative when it isn’t necessary. Then again, other authors like to speak in metaphors and weave their deepest thoughts and feelings into their stories undetected. But occasionally, their readers may see that as being fearful or speaking in riddles in order to dodge the biggest, and possibly the best, parts of the story by mincing your words and needlessly fogging up the story when a bolder approach would serve you better. They key is to try things out and find yourself a comfort zone in the middle ground between the two extremes, and do it all within the context of the theme that you’re writing about. I hope that make some kind of sense. Hehehe!

Anyway, just experiment a little bit with your writing and see how it feels. What can you come up with? How would a few of your favorite readers feel about it? It’s the only way to snuggle your way into a comfy little ‘pocket’ and use tactics like this one in ways that you never thought possible before. It’s all a part of your evolution. It goes way beyond mechanics and sentence structure. Way beyond character creation and world building. Most of you are in the advanced honors class now! Hehehe, you wouldn’t be here if you weren’t. So it’s time to start looking at the art of storytelling in three and fourth dimensions. And I know that sounds weird, but I found that to be true over the years. And soon...your creativity and skills will start to feel limitless in the process. Trust me on this one!

Take care, folks! I’ll seezya soon! And, as always..stay beautiful! K?