Confession of Closet Critic

I don't think I'm *really* a closet critic. I read, I review, and yes, sometimes I criticize...but I'm not a critic. I just like the sound of that...closet critic. Nice alliteration. Even if it's kind of a lie.

Anywho...

So, a while back I was reviewing two separate books, and I was annoyed at how the author had gleamed over, what I had thought, pivotal scenes. One was a fight scene, the other was a torture scene. As I had mentioned in my review, I'm not necessary a gruesome girl who gets off on reading about torture and worships movies like Hostel (talk about gruesome, and yeah, I've seen them all), but I wanted at least a piece of the scene for my imagination...one little tidbit thrown my way so that my brain could analyze it and embellish it in whatever sick way my mind wanted to take me. I believe I had said that that approach to writing the scene was unimaginative, or cowardly.

Wow. Bitch much?

Anywho...

It was the same with the fight scene (a different book). It was like the whole scene had been condensed and glossed over and then, bam! It was over.

I repeat: I'm not a gruesome girl, really, but the reason I wanted to have a little embellishment on these scenes is that both were pivotal events for the character. They were life-changing events. They molded and shaped the character to harden and toughen and evolve. And we missed it. Both times.

Now to the confession.

As I was reading through my current WIP (Kiss Me Dead) I came upon a fight scene. 3 guys against 1. The character gives one guy a solid kick to the chin that sends him flying, he cracks his head against the pavement, and lights out. The other 2 left standing go on the attack. Then you know what I did?

Wait for it...

I condensed. I glossed. I believe my exact written words were, "A few kicks and punches later..."

Read it again.

"A few kicks and punches later..."

Um. Wait. What? Is that imaginative or brave writing? No, it's unimaginative and cowardly. Granted, it was in no way a life-changing scene for the main character...but it was pivotal. It was a cause that created an effect. It forced him into a situation where he made a decision he might not otherwise have made.

"A few kicks and punches later..."

I cringe every single time I read that sentence. How uninspiring. How *lazy*. Apparently, I can talk the Shit, but I can't write it.

But I *can* edit it! And I will.