This week, at the RNA London Chapter, my good friend and fabulous historical writer Jean Fullerton gave a writing workshop.
I love going to writing workshops. It doesn’t matter how many books I have written – I believe there is always more to learn about writing – and who better to learn it from than someone whose books I admire.
Her message was – do not cheat your readers.
The topic under discussion was that oft repeated writing adage – show don’t tell. We hear those words so often – it’s sometimes easy to lose sight of what they really mean.
The definition is not that hard….
I could tell you… Alice is nervous.
Or I could show you… Alice’s palms are damp with sweat. She wipes them on her skirt, shifting her weight from one foot to the other as she stares at the door.
In the latter example, I haven’t told you that Alice is nervous. I have allowed the reader to make that discovery for themselves by interpreting what they were seeing.
And that’s what Jean meant by not cheating the reader.
Telling the reader something makes the reader passive. They do nothing but absorb the information. But showing them involves them in the story and in the scene. This gets the reader thinking – and suddenly they are emotionally involved. That’s what they are looking for – a story and characters that they can care about.
Jean reminded us that dialogue is a great way of showing – and getting readers involved.
Don’t tell me that… he was angry.
Show me… “Damn them all to hell!”
There’s no need to add, he said angrily. The words themselves show that he’s angry.
Of course there are times when we do have to tell. When we take our readers to a place or a time or a world that they don’t know, we will need to tell them a bit about it. Through description. Jean does this in her historical novels – but warns that we have to find a balance between telling people what they need to know about this place and time – and telling too much.
This is something I am very aware of. Because my books are set in out-of-the-way places (you don’t get more out-of-the-way than Antarctica), I have to tell the reader a bit about the place. But I try when I can to do this through the eyes of the characters.
I can tell you it was several degrees below zero, with an added wind chill factor.
Or I can show you Jenny hunched down inside her heavy jacket, her hands pushed deep into her pockets as her mind conjured up terrible visions of frostbite.
Jean’s very good advice was this – if you are going to tell – tell the setting. But always show the emotion. Because emotion is all about characters – and the characters are the key to the book.
The discussion during the workshop was lively and a lot of fun….
You can check out Jean’s books – and find lots of other great writing advice on Jean’s website
I could tell you that my good friend Jean and I agreed that we are crazy women because we talk to imaginary people in our heads and write books about them.
Or I could show you…
Jean (or me) seated at a desk, eyes glued to a computer screen, hands flashing over the keyboard. Lips move and in a voice too soft for anyone else in the room to hear… “Yes. Of course you love her. But you don’t know how to tell her. What if…”