Great lecture and exercise. I didn't realize I was so hindered by the show don't tell "rule". But also being up front about emotions isn't my most natural state of being. Good advice in writing and in life. I tried the exercise on a scene I've been working on and its changed the energy for sure!
Heather, If you're inclined, I'd be interested in seeing the before and after versions. You can email me through Substack. No pressure. Just glad it felt energizing.
The highlighted handout and listening to the lecture have been extremely helpful. Thank you for sharing these. My own writing has suffered an asphyxiation of emotion...under the "show don't tell" mantra that I've never completely trusted but followed dogmatically (sigh). This has been an excellent explanation of how that advice goes awry (coupled with my own obsessive rule following). I also appreciated the discussion at the very end...about inviting emotion in as a guide in the writing process and allowing it to unfold sentence by sentence. Will try the exercise next.
I was thinking of dropping you an email about this piece. Just in case you missed it. If you try the exercise, send me a copy, if you want. Just out of interest. Yes, that idea of letting the technique guide your composition instead of planning it out ahead, that's what I mean by techniques of elaboration (see earlier posts).
I really appreciate your offer to send this exercise, thank you. I managed to squeeze the exercise in at the end of this week.
A few observations about using this approach for writing.
Firstly, it took me a lot longer to do the writing for this exercise. Usually, responding to writing prompts, I put my pen to paper and I just let the words fly, imposing my own rules: no cross outs/edits and keep writing for the duration of the allotted time. In this way, something surprising, often beautiful, always rises to the surface (usually only at the very end of the exercise)...but I am left with a slightly baffling fragment and no clue as to how I might proceed or stick it together with another fragment (and attempts really botch the whole thing up).
In contrast, working through this exercise was very slow. I sat and did a lot more thinking (imagining) before placing each sentence on the page. There were a lot of cross outs and edits too (I write by hand). It felt a lot more like when I write poetry...the process of intentional writing I apply to poetry.
Secondly, I noticed almost immediately the richness of the material being laid down. What do I mean by this? I guess I mean that suddenly every word (or, sentence) revealed so much more potential for a larger story...pathways for how a story might open out, or be built, were revealed. And this felt really exciting.
And lastly, this exercise enabled me to experience, for the first time, how a moment is opened up on the page...technically, how elaboration (in this exercise using emotion) enabled close observation of experience and a rendering of it that reads more coherently than my previous writings.
This is great, Suzanne. Exactly the experience I would hope for (though it doesn't always happen for people). This is a lovely gloss on the exercise and the theory of elaboration. Thank you.
What a fantastic lecture and exercise. I very much miss this kind of reminder about the nature of good writing and how to achieve it. Thanks so much for sharing this, Douglas.
Great lecture and exercise. I didn't realize I was so hindered by the show don't tell "rule". But also being up front about emotions isn't my most natural state of being. Good advice in writing and in life. I tried the exercise on a scene I've been working on and its changed the energy for sure!
Heather, If you're inclined, I'd be interested in seeing the before and after versions. You can email me through Substack. No pressure. Just glad it felt energizing.
I'd love to send. I just don't know how to email through substack lol.
The highlighted handout and listening to the lecture have been extremely helpful. Thank you for sharing these. My own writing has suffered an asphyxiation of emotion...under the "show don't tell" mantra that I've never completely trusted but followed dogmatically (sigh). This has been an excellent explanation of how that advice goes awry (coupled with my own obsessive rule following). I also appreciated the discussion at the very end...about inviting emotion in as a guide in the writing process and allowing it to unfold sentence by sentence. Will try the exercise next.
I was thinking of dropping you an email about this piece. Just in case you missed it. If you try the exercise, send me a copy, if you want. Just out of interest. Yes, that idea of letting the technique guide your composition instead of planning it out ahead, that's what I mean by techniques of elaboration (see earlier posts).
I really appreciate your offer to send this exercise, thank you. I managed to squeeze the exercise in at the end of this week.
A few observations about using this approach for writing.
Firstly, it took me a lot longer to do the writing for this exercise. Usually, responding to writing prompts, I put my pen to paper and I just let the words fly, imposing my own rules: no cross outs/edits and keep writing for the duration of the allotted time. In this way, something surprising, often beautiful, always rises to the surface (usually only at the very end of the exercise)...but I am left with a slightly baffling fragment and no clue as to how I might proceed or stick it together with another fragment (and attempts really botch the whole thing up).
In contrast, working through this exercise was very slow. I sat and did a lot more thinking (imagining) before placing each sentence on the page. There were a lot of cross outs and edits too (I write by hand). It felt a lot more like when I write poetry...the process of intentional writing I apply to poetry.
Secondly, I noticed almost immediately the richness of the material being laid down. What do I mean by this? I guess I mean that suddenly every word (or, sentence) revealed so much more potential for a larger story...pathways for how a story might open out, or be built, were revealed. And this felt really exciting.
And lastly, this exercise enabled me to experience, for the first time, how a moment is opened up on the page...technically, how elaboration (in this exercise using emotion) enabled close observation of experience and a rendering of it that reads more coherently than my previous writings.
This is great, Suzanne. Exactly the experience I would hope for (though it doesn't always happen for people). This is a lovely gloss on the exercise and the theory of elaboration. Thank you.
What a fantastic lecture and exercise. I very much miss this kind of reminder about the nature of good writing and how to achieve it. Thanks so much for sharing this, Douglas.
Thank you for sharing everything. I am following through with this today. This thrusts more richness into my piece and gives such depth!