The Importance of Story

If you're looking for a good writing-related podcast, I recommend checking out Joanna Penn's interview with Lisa Cron, author of Wired for Story, over at the The Creative Penn.

Lisa is so enthusiastic and passionate about her views, it's inspiring! I love thinking about how our brains interpret the world in terms of story.

It puts a picture in my mind of how my kindergarten students calm down and are instantly attentive when I pull out a good book and start reading. I've ordered Lisa's book and I'm going to be thinking about how to apply some of her ideas to my writing and to my teaching.

I especially liked her thoughts on "show don't tell" and how showing isn't effective if the reader hasn't been shown WHY the character is reacting. For me, that means showing the right events to explain a character's frame of mind and reasons for acting a certain way, not just using actions to show an emotion.

The Importance of Story Context

Earlier this week, author P.C. Wrede posted on the real difference between "showing" and "telling" and what it means for a story in her post Show vs. Tell.

She has nicely put into words what I've always thought about the whole issue of "showing" (or dramatizing events) vs. "telling" or (stating something without actions or thoughts to back it up).

Making it a never-to-be-broken rule to show instead of tell isn't always what's best for the story. Like anything else, these are different techniques available in your writing toolbox and both can work, depending on what is needed. The key is to think about the context of each line in the story (and that's why revisions seem to take forever).