If I Wanted a Summary, I'd Read the Back Cover.

Every week I open a manuscript full of promise, only to discover the best bits have already happened.

'They argued.' 'She was devastated.' 'He fell in love.' 

Thank you. That's wonderfully efficient. But unfortunately, I have absolutely no idea what any of that felt like. I cannot relate to anything because I don’t know how it made your character feel.

Imagine you rang your best friend after the worst date of your life. You wouldn't say, 'We had dinner. He was so rude. I came home.'

You'd say, 'You'll never believe what happened. He ordered for me. Then he corrected the waiter. Then he told me women over fifty shouldn't have long hair.'

Now I'm listening! Now you’ve got me. I am right there with you as you sat through dinner with that horrible person. Nobody wants a summary. As we constantly say at the Art of Writing, give me the emotions not the facts.

Your job as a writer it to recreate the experience so that your reader forgets they're sitting on the couch with a cup of tea. That’s why we read. Well, that’s why I read. To escape, be transported. 

I know every creative writing teacher on the planet bangs on about 'show, don't tell'. You've probably heard it so often your eyes glaze over every time someone says it. Yet it remains one of the most common problems I see in manuscripts.

Here's a simple exercise that can help transform a summary into a scene. Open your manuscript and highlight every sentence that tells me something happened.

'She was angry.'
'He felt guilty.'
'They had a huge argument.'
'It was the happiest day of her life.'

Now ask yourself one question: If I had a film crew standing beside my character, what would the camera actually record?

What did they say?
What did they notice?
What did they touch?
What did they avoid looking at?
What did the other person do in response?

Instead of writing, 'She was furious,' perhaps she folds the tea towel so tightly her knuckles turn white. Instead of, 'They argued,' let me hear the argument. Instead of, 'He was devastated,' show me the untouched dinner, the unanswered phone, the wedding ring sitting beside the sink in the bathroom.

The other thing is don't tell me she's kind. Show me her stopping to help the elderly man carry his groceries. Don't tell me he's arrogant. Let me watch him interrupt everyone at the dinner table and dismiss their opinions. Don't tell me they're nervous. Show me them checking their phone every thirty seconds, picking at a thumbnail and forgetting what they were about to say.

Just to recap: Our Sydney Storytelling Workshop at Woollahra Library, Double Bay, August 21–23 is now Sold Out. Our eight lecturers/writers/speakers Ashley Kalagian-Blunt, Petronella McGovern and structural editor Laurel Cohn (the backstory queen), as well as our author panel Adam Courtenay (memoir, autobiography and biography), Meg Kenneally (editing) and Larry Writer (niche writing) are ready and raring to go! A heads up that Zeitgeist Literary Agency joins us and Art of Writing writers can optionally submit a paragraph to Zeitgeist.

In more news:

Florence, 9–13 May – It's Happening!

I'm absolutely delighted to say that our Florence workshop is officially on. We'll spend four days, five nights immersed in great storytelling, surrounded by Renaissance beauty, wonderful food and a small group of passionate writers who understand exactly why you can't stop thinking about your manuscript.

We'll work hard, laugh a lot, drink excellent coffee and, if previous retreats are anything to go by, you'll leave with far more than pages. You'll leave with new confidence, lifelong writing friends and a story that's moved significantly closer to the book you always knew it could become.

I can't wait to share Florence with you! Drop me a line if you’d like to know more. We’ll have the 2027 page on the Art of Writing site soon.

Till next week…