This guest post is by C.S. Lakin.
Gone are the days of the long
narrative passages we used to see in novels written by greats like Dickens and
Steinbeck. Even though literary prose is still highly praised and found in many
bestselling commercial novels, the trend over the last few decades has been to
“show, not tell.” Meaning, readers prefer scenes in which they are watching the
action unfold in real time—instead of being told what is happening by the
author or even by one of the characters.
Sol Stein,
in his book Stein on Writing, says,
Twentieth-century readers, transformed by film and TV, are used to seeing stories. The reading experience for a twentieth-century reader is increasingly visual. The story is happening in front of his eyes.
This is even more true in the twenty-first century. As
literary agent and author Donald Maass says in Writing 21st Century Fiction: “Make characters do
something that readers can visualize.”
Just How Do You Show?
As much as we writers hear the phrase “show, don’t tell,” we never hear anyone
explain just how to do that.
- Is there only one way to “show” a scene?
- Is there a “best” way?
- Is there a secret to doing this well?
I believe the key is in
what Stein spoke of—how the reading experience has been affected by film. Film
technique is the ultimate in showing instead of telling. In fact, even in
scenes in which a character is talking about what is happening, whether a
character on the screen or as a voiceover (when you just hear someone talking
but don’t see them), you still see something happening on the screen before
you. In a novel, if the author interrupts the present action to explain
something (narrative or exposition), the reader stops “seeing” what’s going on.
Back in
the day, because film had to be edited laboriously by hand and was tricky to do
seamlessly, many movie scenes were filmed using one camera from one angle in
one continuous shot. Take a look at some of the dance scenes from some old Fred
Astaire movies and you’ll be amazed how he performed his dance sequences so
perfectly in one long shot! It makes me wonder how many takes they’d have to do
to get that perfect sequence.
Now with
the wonders of modern technology, film editors can cut and splice with ease and
create scenes out of numerous segments from different camera angles. Just pay
attention the next time you watch an action movie like Die Hard. See if you can count all the individual cuts and camera
shots that have been pieced together in a segment. Sometimes there are
dozens—forcing your eye to shift from close-up to zoom, to panning the action,
to an inserted detail, and the list goes on.
If
novelists approach their scenes in a similar fashion, they’ll produce powerful, riveting scenes. These scenes don’t have to be high action;
any scene can benefit from this technique. Too many novel scenes feel like the camera is stuck in one spot watching what is happening, and that can
make a scene flat and boring. Imagine two people talking while they sit and
drink tea with the camera only showing their two faces. Boring. But you don’t
just want to “move your camera around” randomly. And this is where the secret
comes in.
The Secret to “Show, Don’t Tell”
Let me
preface by saying something I say often, to the point of excess: every scene needs to have a point or it shouldn’t be in your novel. With that said, let me
add this: every scene needs a high moment, where that point is made. When
actress Rosalind Russell was asked “What distinguishes a great movie?” she
answered, “Moments.” And that’s so true for scenes.
We remember great scenes
because they contain a great moment. Often that moment is not something
huge and explosive. On the contrary—the best moments are the very subtle ones
in which the character learns or realizes something that may appear small to
the outside world but is giant in scope to the character.
So, once you determine
the “moment” in your story, think about the best way to show it. If you are
revealing something small—like a word, an expression or reaction, or a physical
detail, you’ll want to have your “camera” up close. If it’s a big explosion in
a city center, you’ll want to use a long shot to see the impact on a huge
scale. Once you envision that moment and how you mean to show it, you can work backward to build up to it. Just like a movie director does when planning the
segments to shoot a scene, writers can storyboard or plan out each segment
leading up to their “moment” to give it the greatest punch.
Learn from today’s top
movie directors and watch how they tell a story on the big screen by using
camera shots. Pay attention to the key moments in each scene and notice how the
filmmakers “show” instead of “tell.” If you take the time to study great scenes
in movies, you can discover ways to fashion great scenes in your novels. Don’t be surprised when readers keep saying to you, “Wow, I could really
picture your novel as a movie.” Take that as a compliment.
About the Author: The author of thirteen novels, copyeditor and writing coach C. S. Lakin teaches writing workshops and gives
instruction on her blog Live Write Thrive. She is currently teaching a year-long
course on her blog about cinematic technique for novelists called Shoot Your
Novel. Connect with her on Twitter (@cslakin) and Facebook.
Tell me your opinion: What have the movies taught you about writing novels?
Related Posts: Show and Tell
Story by K.M. Weiland
Tags: Description , Feature , scenes , Showing , Telling
Oooh! I LOVE this post!! Especially because I teach writing to middle grade kids and have been talking to them and showing and not telling.
I think because our readers are more visual (thanks to movies, video games, internet, etc.) our scenes must be visual as well. My readers tell me all the time that my book should be a movie or that it was written "like a movie" and that's because I am child of the 70's. TV and movies were my life!
I am glad you encourage writers to make every scene count. I try to motivate my students to draw the reader into each scene with the characters words and actions. "I want to see them in your story!" I tell them.
Great post!!
This is such a brilliant post! It hits all the right points for clarity, and I especially love the idea of building a story board up to your scene "moment." I literally just recommended that someone storyboard their opening scene in this Monty's First Five Pages Workshop, and I'm going to go back and add a link to this post. Of course, it's all easier said than done, which is why I still struggle with my own work! :)
Thanks so much for sharing your insight!
Thanks so much for sharing with us today, Susanne!
After attending a film-making academy last year, I've found that the only true difference between a movie and a book is that the book relies on the reader's ability to visualize the scene. If utilized properly, an author can create a scene that is much more gripping than a comparable scene in a movie.
And that is exactly what I'm always striving to do. My readers tell me that I've done it in some of my stories. But, as is common with most writers, I'm not content until I reach six sigma.. ;)
Thanks for sharing, C.S. :D
Love it! One of my main inspirations is Buffy the Vampire Slayer :)
"Tell me your opinion: What have the movies taught you about writing novels?" -
for me, those movies that let me wander into the physical scene, though often underscored with music, that let me feel the terrain, or inside of a dwelling, the yard or streets around where the character lives, are those i seem to remember best
and i suppose, the "music underscore" might be, in terms of use of words, the "way" we use the words we choose, the way the words link together, flow or chop or do (sorta) fitness intervals in our hearts and minds ;-)
nice post, really enjoyed this, thanks so much, best wishes ;-)
Thanks for the great comments, and thanks, Katie, for having me on your blog! If any are interested, Shoot Your Novel is running as a year-long course on my blog Live Write Thrive and I'm covering in-depth looks at many camera shots and cinematic technique that writers can use in their scene structure. www.livewritethrive.com
~Susanne
Wonderful post. I often write while watching "the movie of my novel" rolling in my head. Now I know to take that information more seriously, and apply it! Thanks for the tips.
Excellent post!
When I'm writing, I try to visualize the scene as if it were in a movie. Will I need a voiceover (internal dialogue) for readers to know what's going on, or will the emotions and thoughts and motivations be conveyed through the actors' words and actions? Both, of course, have their place, but I know I personally would much rather watch the scene unfold rather than be told about it.
That was an excellent post. Really got me thinking, breaking it down smaller before getting the big picture. One question, though. I am writing memoir. I am the narrator. If I need to talk about, say, heir land (you can take a look at two consecutive posts here to see what I mean...
http://debranewton-carter.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-family-history-writing-challenge_6.html
http://debranewton-carter.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-family-history-writing-challenge_7.html
...so that my readers will understand the importance of visiting the elder cousin with all the siblings to hear about her final wishes...but only if we all attend...
How can I do something like that by showing instead of telling? Or should I just leave it out?
Basically, write the story that I SEE in my head. When I'm writing a scene, I see every movement, character, detail, and nuance. If I can get those visions on the paper effectively, it's a good scene.
So like if I wanted to show a scene like George Lucas, or Stanley Kubrick would I need to study how they show in one of their scripts?
Unfortunately I don't like a lot of what I watch has a script that printed off, or at least in English. I watch a lot of anime.
Great blog! Finally, another author who talks about something very similar to what I've been trying to do with my own writing.
Finally descriptive words for actionable advise.
All this is great so far as action is concerned. But the novel has one great virtue no film can have. It can let the reader into the mind of characters. In real-life dialogue, for instance, people don't always say what they mean or carry on conversations in a strictly logical way. In a film you're entirely dependent on the actor and director to make sense of your realistically dissociated dialogue by expression or gesture. In a novel, you can let the reader into the thoughts behind the words, so that the actual dialogue is merely the tip of the ice berg.
Great post. I find myself doing a lot of telling, but then again I'm old fashioned. This is a good lesson for me.
Okay, I think this post has prompted me to look at my writing in a whole new perspective! Thanks for sharing.
Writing scenes while keeping a movie camera view in mind is bound to make a better novel. Thanks so much!
With all due respect for Ms. Lakin and her success as a writer, as well as for the others who have commented here, I'm feel I must say that I don't agree with this approach. Speaking only for myself, and I might be the only one on the planet who feels this way, I, as a reader, do not want to read a novel that basically reads like a screenplay. It completely turns me off. I want to be challenged to use my own imagination to picture the scenes in a book, or the nuance of a character’s expression, based on the author’s description, and not being forced to picture it as a movie director might if they were going to capture that scene on film. To me it feels like authors are trying to dumb-down readers and feed them ready-made-for-the-screen images, when for me, it is so much more fun to imagine it myself. Just my two cents; no disrespect intended. Peace for your day.
One great thing about writing is there is room for every style and writers can structure their stories however they want. We all have different tastes. I would find it hard to enjoy and stick with a book that had nothing in the way of showing a scene--all narrative or exposition and telling. I doubt many readers really enjoy a book written like that, but there might be a few out there. Storytelling in its most ancient form was all about helping listeners picture something that happened or some fable or legend. But the art of storytelling has always involved "showing" by engaging listeners through the art of "painting a picture" for them to imagine. If authors don't do similarly, how will they engage readers?
Curious you should cite Dickens, seeing as he was a very visual writer - not that that us what "show, don't tell" actually refers to anyway.
Awesome! Very informative.
Thanks Susanne. Reading this information makes me want to keep writing. Thanks for taking the time to care enough for writers/authors to keep us informed and educated. Someday, you will see the fruit of your labor towards up and coming authors like myself and many others. Godspeed
Awesome! Very informative.
Thank you for this! Very inspiring to keep searching for more 'moments' in my writing, reading, and my life.
Wow, the light bulb went on! Thanks for the post and the great visual!
Super post. Thanks.
This is a great post; a nice twist on a common topic. I've been reading a lot of self-published books lately and this is often a point the authors miss. As you say, great works of old got away with pages long blocks of expository text, but no more. As to your question I like to study the actors - when they are angry or surprised, or thrilled, how do they convey that. Then you top it off by discussing "camera angles". Not just who the POV character should be, but where. Good point!