Are We Story Tellers?

Okay class, welcome to Fiction Writing 101. Please turn to Chapter 1, Page 1 in your manuals and let's all review together Golden Writing Rule #1:

Show, don't tell.

Because this is a refresher course, we don't have to spend too much time on this. You all know this most fundamental tenet of writing, which lays down the law for how information is to be conveyed off the written page. Use action verbs and gerunds. Eschew the passive voice. Minimize exposition. Use dialogue selectively, and only to characterize and move the story along. Don't tell me "she felt angry"; show her "heaving the iron across the room with the sole intention of splitting his temple," or better yet, let us feel her "grinding her teeth into fine chalk that fizzled in the foam forming beneath her tightly sealed lips."

Got it? Good. Now, let's move on to Golden Rule #2:

I'm sorry, you in the front row with the fine looking writing utensil…what is your question? Hmm, very good observation. Did everyone hear that? The question was "If Rule #1 is true, then are we storytellers?"

There are many ways to answer this question. The simplest answer is that we use the term "storyteller" for the sake of expedience. It is more a frame of reference than a true reflection of what we do with our craft. But by definition, no, we are not story "tellers".

My children often implore me to tell them a story at bedtime. "I don't tell stories," I am forced to explain over and over again. "I write them and I read them, but I don't tell them. Ever." They go away looking at me as if I am strange, but they are growing accustomed to my many idiosyncratic ways. Storytelling is for the barbershop or the hair salon. It's what you do with your colleagues at the designer coffee shop during your break at work. You tell friends about your weekend. You tell your coworker what happened at the Friday's staff meeting. People tell you all the juicy gossip that's fit to…well, tell. Try writing about those things, ladies and gentlemen, and you will discover that "telling " is in another universe from what we do. We do not aspire to "tell the Great American Story"; we hope to "Write the Great American Novel".

You there, in the middle, pounding away on the laptop. Your question? Yes, to some degree it is a matter of semantics. But as writers we must keep in mind the power of the tools that we use. Our words and thoughts are creative energy. If we refer to ourselves as storytellers, then that makes us exactly that. And it is reflected in what we put on paper. But if we are really writers, then we must abandon the storytelling mentality and take to the task of crafting works of fiction, which brings back to Golden Writing Rule #2: A writer writes…always.

Any questions?