#elcrivain

[elcrivain]

whatever our souls are made of

[elcrivain]

Show, Don’t Tell

“Show, don’t tell,” was what I was taught at school.

You, too?

Here’s a simple example of “show, don’t tell”:

Show: The skin resists the blunt knife, dimpling slightly before bursting open in a splatter of red liquid. All over my hands. All over the kitchen counter. What’s inside is worse: a viscous mess of seeds and soggy flesh that oozes across my plate, and turns to a fragrant mush in my mouth. It isn’t the taste, but the texture that makes me long to spit it out. Tell: I hate raw tomatoes.

In my example above, the difference between the two approaches is marked. However, in practice, it isn’t always so easy to distinguish between showing and telling.

In this article, I’d like to explore the techniques used by 3 famous authors to blend showing and telling in order to unfold the plot, the characters, and the world.

Here is a general comparison of showing and telling:

How vs. What – showing is more likely to explain and describe how something occurs, whereas telling can simply state what happened.

Detail vs. Overview – showing focuses on providing details in an effort to imitate the character’s experience, while telling is more useful for providing a broad overview or generalisation of the situation.

Verbose vs. Succinct – since showing requires more detail, it’s usually wordier than telling.

Slow vs. Fast – another consequence of providing more details is that the pace of the narration slows down. Telling, in contrast, usually speeds up the story.

Character vs. Narrator – because showing often relies on the way the action of the story is perceived, the character becomes more dominant. However, this character may be the narrator themselves.

Perception vs. Context – even if the perceptions are shown from the point of view of a disembodied narrator, they’re usually more focused. Telling, in contrast, is better suited to provide context.

Personal vs. Impersonal – because it foregrounds perceptions, showing can feel more personal, whereas telling can impart a universal quality as exemplified by the fairytale formula: “once upon a time, in a kingdom far away, there lived a…”

Writer vs. Reader – showing requires a writer to expend skill, time, and words. Although it can help to draw the reader in, I think it can be argued that telling a story demands more of the reader, who has to fill in the details through the work of their own imagination.

The aim of the “show, don’t tell,” rule is to encourage writers to describe the action of the story in a way that draws the reader to experience it alongside the character.

It’s a useful reminder to think about how you convey information.

However, as I think the examples in this article will demonstrate, showing and telling are more effective when used together.

The techniques of showing and telling are essential to fleshing out your plot structure.

✓ Telling can impart a lot of information very quickly, which is why it’s often a good choice for setting the scene.

✓ Showing, on the other hand, conveys story information slowly, but more in-depth. It’s more entertaining, so I recommend you use it in abundance for scenes that you want to linger in.

One of Ernest Hemingway’s writing tenets is to pare down story information as much as possible. His aim is to erase the narrator, and thereby the filter between the reader and the characters, but this doesn’t mean he shies away from telling. Quite the contrary!

For example, here is the very first sentence of THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA:

He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish.

This telling sentence brings the reader up to speed, introducing the character, the location, and the situation.

You might argue that the rest of the novella is Hemingway showing the first sentence and its consequences.

A writer can often give away a surprising amount of information about the plot, because the reader can still enjoy the pleasure of the details unfolded through showing the character’s journey.

After his first telling sentence, Hemingway continues to weave showing and telling throughout the novella, creating the oceanic rhythm of the old man’s monologue.

For example:

“Bad news for you, fish,” he said and shifted the line over the sacks that covered his shoulders. [showing]

He was comfortable but suffering, although he did not admit the suffering at all. [telling]

You can use this technique of alternating lines of showing and telling as a way to break up long sections of introspection.

Hemingway has another interesting trick that combines the functions of telling and showing.

Glossing over boring passages of time is one of the chief advantages of telling.

Throughout The Old Man and the Sea, Hemingway repeatedly tells how much time has passed, but simultaneously shows its effect on the character through the perceptions of the old man…

The sun was two hours higher now and it did not hurt his eyes so much to look into the east. There were only three boats in sight now and they showed very low and far inshore.

…

He rested for what he believed to be two hours. The moon did not rise now until late and he had no way of judging the time. Nor was he really resting except comparatively. He was still bearing the pull of the fish across his shoulders but he placed his left hand on the gunwale of the bow and confided more and more of the resistance to the fish to the skiff itself.

…

For an hour the old man had been seeing black spots before his eyes and the sweat salted his eyes and salted the cut over his eye and on his forehead. He was not afraid of the black spots. They were normal at the tension that he was pulling on the line. Twice, though, he had felt faint and dizzy and that had worried him.

…

He had sailed for two hours, resting in the stern and sometimes chewing a bit of the meat from the marlin, trying to rest and to be strong, when he saw the first of the two sharks.

To use this trick, look for descriptions in your story when your character is fairly still for a long period of time. Instead of mentioning the passage of time, and what your character does before and after, describe their sensations during that time period, and how they perceive time passing.

Notice how this technique doesn’t take up much space in the narrative. It seems to create contrast by speeding up the time it takes to tell the story, while slowing down time for the character.

[elcrivain]

5.21.19 | writing poetry

[elcrivain]

First: Stop correcting while writing.

Writing and edition are two different activities that need to different mindsets and mixing them up is a sure method for a disaster.

Second: Don’t research while writing.

Again, those are different activities and research will interrupt and disturb your writing. Set a separate time for a research and never mix the two.

Third: It’s best to have an outline of even the shortest piece.

I first brainstorm a few sentences that will outline my content and then write. I never try to write something bigger (>1,000 words article or a book) without an outline.

Fourth: The best time to write (and any other deep work) is in the morning.

You have the most energy, willpower and the least interruptions. I encourage you to wake up earlier if necessary and dedicate a chunk of your early morning to write.

[elcrivain]

A “character arc”, sometimes also called a “character development arc” or “emotional arc” is the sum of the changes that the character undergoes throughout the story, or series of stories. The “arc” itself is generally a metaphor, although it can be plotted like a graph. Usually, the main focus is on the difference between the beginning and end state of the character, so that the overall shape of the graph will resemble an arc, but charting the character’s changes in fortune up or down a scale can also be useful in determining…

The emotional impact of the story (or narrative event) on the character

The emotional impact of the story (or narrative event) on the reader

The dynamic range of the story

The rate of the character’s (internal or external) change

The effective timing or pacing of a particular narrative event

When and where to begin telling a story

When and where to end a story

[elcrivain]

I will cover you with love when next I see you, with caresses, with ecstasy.

[elcrivain]

If you’re new to playwriting and want to practice playwriting, there is no better way than to learn how to write a 10-minute play. Not only is the piece short and sweet, but it makes it easy to practice over and over without wasting time. You can feel free to make errors, write dumb lines of dialogue, and tell a story that makes no sense all at the cost of 10 pages or so. (If that seems like a lot to you, remember that play pages are much shorter than fiction pages.)

For those who are new to theater, a 10-minute play is a short story that lasts no more than 10 minutes long. It usually is a vignette in a series of plays at a festival or competition and offers a great way to practice writing for theater. Below, you’ll learn how to write a 10-minute play and tips for starting out.

Requirements Of A 10-Minute Play

1. STICK TO 10-MINUTES

This is a fairly simple rule to understand, but when you’re writing a 10-minute play, you actually must stick to the 10 minutes allotted to you. You wouldn’t ignore a word count rule for a short story, so neither should you ignore a time limit for a play.

As a writer, the timing is somewhat beyond your control if you are not also directing your piece, as the speed at which lines are said can change the pace of your story. However, to make sure you’re on target when writing, be sure to read each draft out loud with a timer on hand.

(I mean it. Your story really has to be 10-minutes long if you want to have a chance anywhere!)

2. CREATE A STORY WITH AN ARC

It might seem obvious that you should write a story with an arc of some sort, but often what can happen in 10-minute plays is that you’ll end up writing a sketch instead of play. While the difference is minute, a sketch tends to be working towards a punchline, even in dramatic instances, whereas a play has an arc to either the story or character.

Often a play can have something similar to a punchline called the climax, but that isn’t what the story is completely working towards. Instead, the climax just marks the apex of the story, not what the story has been working towards. The action following the climax is equally as important to understanding the story, whereas in a sketch, the punchline is the end of the narrative.

Additionally, in sketches, there is no character development or purpose to the story besides the punchline. For a play, even characters do not change, there is a realization or arc to the narrative beyond this final point.

How To Write A 10-Minute Play

When writing a 10-minute play, any method can be used to brainstorm the standard parts of any story, such as the character, world, and so forth. For best results, focus your brainstorm for a 10-minute play on the same things you would for a short story.

Whether you do these things before you begin writing your play or after, is up to your short story writing approach. However you do it though, you’ll want to stick to the following how-to:

1. ASK A QUESTION

According to Sam Graber, every 10-minute play should ask a question. This truly goes for any play in my opinion, but it is something to keep in mind when writing a 10-minute play as it helps you avoid writing a sketch.

Your play can ask any sort of question. It can be a simple one, such as “What would happen if someone found their true love two months before their death?” to something more ambiguous like “Is loyalty good?”

Whatever you ask, make this the thesis of your play. It will give your play purpose, keep your story focused, and reveal many other important things like your story’s theme and motifs.

2. DEVELOP YOUR CHARACTER, CONFLICT, AND SETTING.

This isn’t new information. For any story you write, you’ll have to develop these things. After you’ve asked the main question of your 10-minute play, you’ll want to flesh out character, setting, and the conflict that derives from your question.

For theater, character is extremely important as the entire is communicated by people. There isn’t a camera for editing, language for someone to read and process, but raw human connection between the actors and the audience.

Because of this, you’ll really want to focus on character first and foremost. Develop at least one complex character to intrigue your audience, then if you get stuck, movie on to the conflict that is rooted in your story. After developing that, you can then focus on setting, but know that given the constraints of theater, setting is often attributed to the imagination of the actors and audience, so fleshing out minute details for a 10-minute play may only be helpful for your own brainstorming.

3. SKIP EXPOSITION

As we’ve emphasized, you only have 10 minutes—and not a second more—in your 10-minute play. Given this time constraint, you’ll need to skip exposition of any kind to get to the center of your story. While you may be tempted to slip it in with a few lines of dialogue, it really isn’t worth the time you’ll lose. When you could be pushing the narrative forward, you’ll be wasting precious seconds talking about something that the audience likely doesn’t need to know.

Keep in mind that in short fiction and even short films, exposition often makes up a few sentences or paragraphs, or the opening shot. But in short fiction, the reader dictates the pace of the story, so there is room for creative exposition and a slower narrative. For short films, you should stray away from exposition, but occasionally films may introduce them because they aren’t in time crunch.

But in a 10-minute play, you are bound to that time limit. While many short films would be better without exposition, you really cannot afford in a 10-minute play to waste any time on exposition. If you feel that exposition is necessary in any way, then you may have a full-length play instead of a 10-minute one. In which case, this guide is no longer of use to your narrative.

4. INTRODUCE THE CONFLICT QUICKLY

Just because you skip the exposition, doesn’t mean you should take your time introducing the conflict. Introduce the conflict as soon as possible so the audience knows why they’re following your story right away.

You don’t have to introduce it in the first line of dialogue, but ideally in the first minute of the page, the second minute at the latest. Even if you have a more subtle conflict that audience members can’t pick up on right away, it’s still essential that you introduce the conflict as soon as possible. It’s a part of answering the question you asked before you began writing, which brings me to…

5. USE THE PLAY TO ANSWER THE QUESTION YOU ASKED

Your entire play should work to answer the question you asked before you even started your script. This could mean a resounding climax for some stories, or it could mean something more subtle and haunting. Whatever it is, every page, every line, every movement of your play should seek to somehow answer the question you asked at the beginning.

When editing future drafts, look at each part and ask yourself how the piece answers the question. If it doesn’t answer the question, rewrite it so that it does or scrap it all together. With only 10 minutes, every single part of your story must answer the question you asked when you began this play.

Tips For Writing A 10-Minute Play

1. GET CREATIVE AND TAKE RISKS

One of the most exciting parts of writing a 10-minute play is the experimentation you can easily incorporate into your story. It can be in a draft, or in the piece itself, but given that you have such a short time, you can really get creative and take risks without wasting tons of time.

So, if it’s your first time writing a 10-minute play, don’t stress about getting things right, but instead, let your imagination take over and do things you usually wouldn’t think to do. The worst that can happen is you’ll have to rewrite the piece, and that will only consist of 10-15 pages.

2. CUT OUT EXTRANEOUS DETAILS

It’s called a 10-minute play. Unlike a short story, there is an actual time limit to this piece, so cut out anything that isn’t relevant to your story. This could be a side character, a scene, or a line of dialogue. Once you’ve written your script, look at it with a critical eye and treat every detail of your story like a choice. Ask yourself if it answers your main question you posited at the beginning of this post, and if it doesn’t, cut it out.

3. USE ACTION TO ADD DEPTH

Avoid telling the entire story with dialogue alone. You have living, breathing people on stage who can use their bodies, their movement, their expressions to tell even more. Make your story more efficient and jam-pack it with more information by adding in action that signals deeper meanings.

4. MAKE SURE YOUR IDEA IS MEANT FOR A 10-MINUTE PLAY

This is a big problem you’ll find in short stories of all types, be it film, fiction, or playwriting. You think you have a great idea for a short story, and then suddenly realize you’ve tried to cram a three-act story into a short story.

It doesn’t work.

If you are running into continuous issues with your 10-minute play, it may be worth evaluating whether your story is for a short play or a full-length play. If you aren’t sure, take a look at what makes a short story (be it fiction, film, or so forth) different.