Forgotten Romance: Observation and Awareness

Well, well, observation. Observation can be an incredible tool when used properly. But if used incorrectly, it will be the means of delivering another description of a man combing a hand through his hair. Creating what someone observes will reveal more about themselves than upon the subjects they chose to inspect. For example, a compassionate heart will see the emotions in a person's eyes, a critical thinker will observe the action and reactions to certain triggers and there are some that might be misinterpreted as shallow if they are only allowed to notice the physical. Each of these scenarios could be the means of revealing a different part of three differently characterized persons. It will also be the means of revealing your character to your reader's mind.

When considering this in a romantic setting, ensuring your characters are 'coming off the right way', is something to be taken into account while constructing your story and characters. Take notice of what you're choosing your character to observe. It's also important to bear in mind that observing the physical through most of your story, will not add depth to either character. Being attracted physically is only a tiny first step in constructing a romance. One applicable method to utilize the above theory is to give your attracted characters a general awareness of where their interest is. If you are striving for realistic subtly in your stories you're not going to have a character staring at their interest for an entire scene taking note of every move. Especially if other parties are involved in that scene. It's obvious, ridiculous, and TOTALLY sappy. Not to mention, it's not pleasurable to read. ;D

Both of these principles can be found in Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South. 

**Potential Spoilers Ahead**

Alright, Gaskell layers the romance of her story so well that I'm going to mention a few scenes that check the needed criteria.

The bracelet. When Margaret and Mr. Thornton are first becoming acquainted, the gentleman notices a bracelet on Margaret's arm and watches it with some fascination. It's quite a wonderful scene and is a very normal observation as it betrays one of the first indications of attraction. It is a representation of the mentioned physical attraction. (Which is necessary.)

The second scenario happens when the two first shake hands. This scene is key in many ways but the main one being Mr. Thornton takes notice of the fact that it's the first time their hands had met. This is not merely a scene of a man noticing physical contact. The reason it is important to him is because it's one of the first signs of goodwill shared between the pair of them. If this kind of scene took place in a book today, it would have been an observation made by a woman about how amazingly strong "his" hands felt. *failed buzzer sound* That's not what we're looking for! :)

Now to the point of awareness. Because Elizabeth Gaskell did all the hard work previous to this post, thank you(!), I'm just going to quote her:

"He never looked at her, and yet, the careful avoidance of his eyes betokened that in some way he knew exactly where, if they fell by chance, they would rest on her."

Not only did the author use the term betoken (I just love that), but she also built us a perfect window into her character's mind. Haven't we all kept track of someone in just such a way at one time or another? It's a marvelously relatable feeling with perfect imagery.

Well, I'm glad I got this last post up. I didn't think I would make it. But, I hope to have more posts of this nature in the future now that my kick-off month is through.

Have a stupendous day!!!

Yours truly,
Cordy