Florida is not known for its winters, but Human-Mom did take to wearing her long sleeves when those nights started getting a bit chilly. Big Cat likes the feel of cotton under his paws. But Little Cat maintains he likes nuzzling against the bare forearm a bit better. The cats love their textures.
Actually your more experienced cats will tell you that a variety of textures is best. Cat Heaven is basically just an afternoon nuzzling against the bare forearm, followed by the cotton tee-shirt on the upper arm, followed by the denim jean-skirt. Then back to the bare forearm. It’s quite therapeutic. For a cat, anyway. The human trials have not been green-lit.
Cinematography by Erika Grumet
Executive Producer: Rocket
Big Cat: Frob
Little Cat: Widget
Description below.
Physical Textures and Storytelling
It can be difficult to decide how minute your descriptions should go when you’re trying to tell a story. In a thousand pages of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien did not even have a spare moment to tell us whether the Elves’ ears were pointy or rounded. What an odd lacuna, no? If you think about it. But that’s writing for you. Different details matter to different writers.
There are two types of textures to your story. First, there is the sense of touch. You can’t necessarily indulge in multi-sensory descriptions in every paragraph. Or even on every page. But your story will feel incomplete without at least some acknowledgement of the other senses. Most writers’ palette ends at sight and sound. And perhaps taste. So where can you add the feel of a piece of cloth? The crunch of gravel underfoot? That little bit of resistance from the keys of a piano that tells you your fingers are resting on real ivory and not synthetic.
The above bit of wordplay with our friendly felines is a good way to introduce the feel of those textures against your skin. Try it as an exercise: mix things up by using someone else’s skin. What does the world feel like to a cat? What happens when all of the senses are made impossibly acute? And what new things will you feel? How will you keep sensory overload at bay? How will you translate it into human terms?
The Overall-Texture of your Story (or Poem or…)
That brings us to the second of our two textures. The word “texture,” like the word “text,” comes from the concept of “textile.” That is, fabric. So what is the fabric of your story? Imagine writing your story like knitting a scarf. Are you using thick needles and thin thread? Or thin needles and thick thread? In other words, do you want your stitches to be open and airy? In other words, do you want them to be more for looking at? Or denser and more purposeful?
The scarf in this image looks nice but it won’t keep you warm. A denser texture, though, would hide all of this beautiful lacework. So… it’s a tradeoff. What’s it going to be, writers? Do you prefer a tighter texture with lots of functional words to move the story forward? Or an airier texture that leaves room for more description? Or do you try to strike a balance?
Little Cat has said he prefers a denser texture for sitting on but also for keeping his claws sharp. So. Bear that in mind. Because that’s important.
Description
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Two cats, a large orange and a small grey, are seated on a sofa-cushion in front of a blank grey wall. The large orange seems to smile down at the little grey as he placidly announces: “I love to give my human snuggles whenever!” The little grey is staring off into the middle distance with pinched countenance. He retorts: “That’s against our code. Might as well cross a picket line, you goddamn scab.”
