Write Lightning is a blog from writer Deb Thompson.
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Wed, Nov 11 2009
Essay or story?
I once listened to a very frustrated woman who had been told by her writing instructor that what she'd just written was not a story. It was an essay. She insisted that her short piece of writing had to be a story because it had characters and things happened in it. It's often very difficult to explain the difference between story and essay. A story stands more on its own with plot and characterization that carries it forward. An essay can contain story, but an essay tends to include more personal opinion, commentary or even persuasion. This is probably one reason why many instructors find themselves having to tell story writers again and again to show instead of tell. We speak of storytelling, but showing instead of telling means leaving out critical remarks (except through the point of view of whatever character is thinking at a given moment). This lets the reader focus on the characters' journey and take that journey along with them. Otherwise, writers interrupt their own stories to tell the reader how they should be feeling. This may be tempting, but if we do that, we're writing an essay. A story can stand on its own.
posted at: 16:44 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
I once listened to a very frustrated woman who had been told by her writing instructor that what she'd just written was not a story. It was an essay. She insisted that her short piece of writing had to be a story because it had characters and things happened in it. It's often very difficult to explain the difference between story and essay. A story stands more on its own with plot and characterization that carries it forward. An essay can contain story, but an essay tends to include more personal opinion, commentary or even persuasion. This is probably one reason why many instructors find themselves having to tell story writers again and again to show instead of tell. We speak of storytelling, but showing instead of telling means leaving out critical remarks (except through the point of view of whatever character is thinking at a given moment). This lets the reader focus on the characters' journey and take that journey along with them. Otherwise, writers interrupt their own stories to tell the reader how they should be feeling. This may be tempting, but if we do that, we're writing an essay. A story can stand on its own.
posted at: 16:44 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
