Show, Don’t Tell you’ve heard it from me, perhaps other writing teachers, in books and on blogs across the internet. But what does it really mean? In today’s Storylines, we look at the difference between showing and telling, along with where to use it in your stories. We’ll also tell you all about the upcoming Show & Tell Summit and how it is going to answer all your questions.
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We now know that dialogue is an important element to good scene writing.
However, it doesn’t remove our apprehension about using it in our family history stories. It becomes a scary proposition for family historians and often stops many from writing scenes because they don’t want to put words in their ancestor’s mouths. Instead, they settle for dry narrative summary rather than writing an engaging story built on scene and summary.
Dialogue for family historians falls into two camps, which I will refer to as recalled conversations and re-created conversations. First let me start by saying, how you handle dialogue in your family history is a personal decision. Some nonfiction writers believe in no fabrication, while others believe you can put words in your character’s mouth within guidelines. There seems to be a broad range of interpretations on the subject.
Recalled Conversations
My definition of a recalled conversation is when the person or persons were present for the discussion but do not recall the exact words that were exchanged. This could be you writing a memoir or interviewing a relative recalling a conversation. Here’s a few guidelines for recalled conversations.
Re-Created Conversations
My definition of a re-created dialogue applies to those discussions that took place well in the past, and no one who was present is alive to interview. You may wish to re-create this conversation but here are a few guidelines I follow.
1. Turn to your research to re-create dialogue. I believe you can re-create dialogue that is based on your research and can be summarized and hypothesized base on your ancestor’s actions. I’ve covered the possible resources for re-creating dialogue in a previous post, Re-Creating Dialogue and in Authentic Ancestors.
2. Remain faithful to the essence of what the character would have said and the nature of the conversation.
3. Be honest with the readers, acknowledge when you are re-creating dialogue and when you are recalling.
I’ll also include a link here for those of you who are just learning to write dialogue, 7 Tips to Formatting Dialogue.
I’ve grabbed a couple of books from by bookshelf to offer examples of how other authors have handled the situation.
For example in the memoir , The StovePipe by Bonnie Virag, in her author’s notes she addresses the topic:
I set forth each incident as I remember it, occasionally relying on my sisters to fill in some of the gaps – bearing in mind that each of us saw through a different set of eyes and may have perceived things differently. Some of the dialogue I remember clearly and recount verbatim. Where memory fails me, I created dialogue based on the way my sisters expressed themselves. The rest is as accurate as I can make it. It is the story of my life, and I have tried to be true to my thoughts and memories.
Another example,
Jeannette Walls, Author of Half-Broke Horses
In telling my grandmother’s story, I never aspired to that sort of historical accuracy. I saw the book more in the vein of oral history, a retelling of stories handed down by my family through the years, and undertaken with the storyteller’s traditional liberties. ….she goes on to say
I don’t have the words from Lily herself, and since I have also drawn on my imagination to fill in details that are hazy or missing- and I ‘ve changed a few names to protect people’s privacy – the only honest thing to do is call the book a novel.
Regardless of whether you are recalling dialogue or recreating dialogue the important thing to remember is to be honest with the reader.
Lee Gutkind, creative nonfiction teacher and author of You Can’t Make This Stuff Up, expresses his thoughts and I’ll end with his words
“The idea is to replicate the conversation vividly and to mirror memory and speculation with trust and good judgement.”
Writing the physical world of our ancestors may seem impossible at times. We face two concerns, how do we know what it looked like and how do we bring that world to life on the page.
Replicating that world will once again rely heavily on your family history research along with social history research. I encourage you, where possible to visit the ancestral hometowns of your ancestors. Walk the streets, visit the local historical societies and learn everything you can about their surroundings, from the house they lived in, to the street they lived on. Absorb the town that was a part of their daily life. If you can’t go in person visit through the magic of Google Earth. Reproduce your ancestor’s setting down to the most minute detail.
Once you have your research, you now must turn to painting a picture of the landscape with words so the reader can visualize being there. We want them to feel as if they are standing beside their ancestor, seeing what they are seeing.
As we have previously discussed with regards to scenes; we will rely on our senses, all of them, specific details, and figurative language to make this happen. However, before writing physical description of your ancestor’s world let’s discuss the importance setting plays in your family history story.
You learned in previous posts, setting is a component of scene, without a setting to anchor your reader, they are lost.
However, I see writers not doing justice to setting. They may include a year, maybe a town name or a place like a the kitchen, but that’s where the description often stops. More detail, particular detail is needed. When I say more, I don’t mean describe the entire house, or the whole town. Give the reader intimate details of the immediate setting. For example, if we’re in the kitchen then give the reader the colour of the tablecloth, the smell of the stew cooking on the stove, the creak of the chair and the burnt out lightbulb dangling above.
A setting can also set tone, a feeling and it can be a character in of itself. For example, the supportive small town or the thick forest holding back progress or a chaotic city that overwhelms a new resident can play a pivotal role in a story. The setting can offer far more complications or support in your story than just a pretty backdrop in which to tell your story. Keep in mind that what you choose to share in terms of details are the very tools you will use to create tone and evoke feeling. Is the kitchen warm and cozy, or cold and desolate? The description you share should be hand-picked and carefully worded to evoke the feelings you want to bring forward to the reader.
Setting can also take on a character type role. Many of you writing memoir might find this to be true when writing about a childhood home, or a grandparent’s house, a setting that conjures up immense emotion.
Consider how the environment plays into your ancestor’s emotions. Take out something you’ve written so far this month. Read it. Is the location clear? The physical setting established? Are there details, or is it very general in nature? Does it reflect a feeling an emotion, could it?
On the other side, setting shouldn’t take over your writing. Long narratives describing a family home or locations pull the reader away from the action and the story. Describing setting within a scene requires a delicate balance, just enough to to feel like we are there, not to much that it pulls us out of the story.
You, the family history writer control the window to your ancestor’s physical world, think cautiously about how you wish to portray that world to your reader and what feeling and emotion it could bring to the story.
As I was listening to you talk about Show/Tell it helped me to see why I am having trouble with my heirloom stories. I am only telling and I see the potential to make it so much better with showing. Didn’t we do this in school? Show and tell. It was always interesting to see what someone would bring to class to ‘show’ and tell about. I would love to do this class.