The Three Forms of Writing

Has anybody ever talked to you about the Three Forms of Writing? No? Well, grab a chair. This should be a treat, because that's what this post is about, and I'll be going over all three of them.

Form 1 -- Stating

Stating is the weakest form of writing. We all do this from time to time, and in small bursts, where it isn't going to carry any real point of the story, you can get away with it, but it really should be avoided.

Know all those posts that talk about abuse of adverbs, purple prose, or other things to avoid? This one matters more than all of them.

I'll give an example, based on the same general topic for each form at the end.


Form 2 -- Telling

Now, I know you have all been told that telling is weak, it should be avoided, and you should show everything. Lies.

You just don't have enough words in your story to justify showing us everything in such grand detail. People who read have different tastes, and some may want to know about the intricate filigree of the monarch's ring. The one that proves they are the true heir to the throne, but honestly, you can probably gloss over bits of that and tell them, like I just did.


Form 3 -- Showing

This is your bread and butter. The money maker, and lots of other cliches as well. You should focus on showing the major events of the story, and when you can, use it for depth of character interaction, their wishes, wants, motivations, and even for the setting.

Overuse can get you into trouble. It can make for that dreaded purple prose, or overdone exaggerated detail that loses the reader because they've forgotten the page turning tension that you've been working so hard to instill in the story.

Now, for that example I promised earlier.

My take on two people, getting hot and heavy, on a couch, with a cat that doesn't want to move aside:

Stating:

Jack and Jill walked to the couch. They sat down and he reached for her bra. She swatted him away, and the look in her eye was playful. The cat was taking up the middle of the couch. Jill had to push him away.
BORING...

Telling:

Jill had wanted to kiss Jack's red lips all night long. "Let's move to the couch," she said, and gave him a smile.
He fumbled with her bra, and she told him no.
As she leaned back, they heard a meow, and the cat jumped over their legs onto the floor before licking himself.
Still kinda meh, right?

Showing:

Jack slammed Jill backward into the couch cushions, landing almost on top of her. Jill's grin was unmistakable when her ass smacked the upholstry, sending the sofa two feet away from where they'd started.
He fumbled for her bra before she slid his hands away and answered him with a head shake. "You're going to have to earn it," she said, grabbing his head and thrusting his lips against her own.
All the while, Jill's brown tabby sat above them, digging his claws into her sweater until he'd gotten himself stuck, having to drag all eighteen pounds of fat, fur and whiskers toward her until he was free, only to be swatted away.
"Not now, Felix. Mommy's. Getting. Lucky."

Not my best work, but it's what I could come up with in about 10 minutes.

So, in short, try to work toward mostly showing, telling some to expedite, and avoiding stating things for the most part.

Write well.
Mark

That part you should have left out of your story

It's no secret that I'm a bit of a geek. I love computers, games, and all sorts of odd things here and there that we need not get into right now.

Know what that makes me? A character in my own life.

Know what else I am? I'm a wizard. (First person to do a crappy Hagrid impression gets a fist in the eye. You're no Robbie Coltane)

My magic power is spinning words into feelings, which brings us to the word of the day (I'll apologize right here. I'm going to use this word a lot, and I may have before in my blog. Too bad. You're reading it again).

That word is: Evoke

There are likely parts of your story you hold dear to. They took you a long time to write, to come up with the best way to phrase it, with the comma in the right spot so everything moves at the speed of mud.

Cut it. You don't need overly florid descriptions, or lots of extra back story hanging around your work like an anchor. Know it. Memorize it, but for the love of Cthulu, leave it be. (Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh)

Paint the image of what you want the reader to feel when they get to the scene. Don't worry TOO much about the general rules that say not to use adverbs, or certain phrases, or even Chuck Palahniuk's precious post about unpacking (Which I adore, and if you are a writer, you must read. It's that good, so why am I saying ignore it? Read on).

The first step toward writing something worth reading is to get them to understand what you are saying, and that doesn't happen by telling them, or in some cases, showing them. They have to feel it. It's a universal translator.

Evoke. It gives you magical power over readers, and that's the key to writing something special.

The unpacking, and all the other parts will come with your ability to make those feelings happen. They feed off each other. Go do it.