Show a story. Don’t tell a story.
I searched through my SleuthSayers posts and did not find that I put this up, so I'm putting up the small lesson I was taught about showing a story and not telling a story. I was asked about this twice over the last few weeks so I thought I'd put it up on SleuthSayers.
Over the years, this has been the most difficult element of fiction writing for beginning writers to learn. Showing a story is dramatizing the events in scenes. Telling a story is a summary of the story, flat without enough details to stimulate a reader’s imagination. You may summarize events between scenes but you should present the action of your story in scenes. It is immediate and much more dramatic.
In showing a story, the writer gives the reader more clearly defined action, characters, point of view and setting.
Describe the little things. Give specific details. Don’t just write – They had dinner. Put in what they ate. Don’t just write – They got in the car. It sounds better and gives a visual image if you put it as – They climbed into the red Corvette.
Writing and Reading a story is a collaboration between the writer and reader.
It should be something like this:
WRITER ---------- STORY ---------- READER
If a writer does not show enough in the story, the reader has to re-create the story in his or her mind and it will look like this:
WRITER --- STORY ----------------- READER
The reader has to fill in a lot of space with guessing and could guess wrong. That is why we give them specific details and setting.
If a writer gives too much information, too much explanation, and does not let the reader participate, it will look like this:
WRITER ----------------- STORY --- READER
The reader may be bored and stop reading. You want to hit the right balance, the half-way point.
Like the old saying about plays and movies. Plays tell a story. Movies show a story.
Interesting lesson, O'Neil. Love the illustration.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard the saying about plays v movies, but despite the many advantages filmmakers have, part of me wants to debate the point. Even though playwrights have limitations, I would expect successful ones should be able to show their story. Hmm.
Love the diagram!
ReplyDeleteGreat points, O'Neil. You're right, this seems to be the hardest thing for beginning writers to master.
ReplyDeleteGood illustration. I was just writing the other day that Linda Thompson was eating when the phone rang, and I made sure to write it as "mid-bite in a slice of veggie pizza."
ReplyDelete