Unsaid
I just read a chapter of a manuscript of an aspiring writer looking for editorial help that was passed along to me. There was so much wrong, that I would consider it criminal to accept money to help this person. But one of many things that stood out was that nothing was left unsaid.
Think about real life. People tell you things--and very often they have an agenda. It may not be a nefarious agenda, but whether we realize it or not, most of us try to present the best of public faces. We don't reveal our vulnerabilities until after we've known someone a while. And think about that--when someone DOES reveal every intimate detail about their life, like on a first date, we usually find it odd.
So while everyone presents their best face forward, it is up to us to discern. Can I trust this person? Is this really someone I want to work with? Spend time with? Date? We look at what people say. And we look at what is unsaid. Their body language. The things they seem to leave out of a story. Twice in the last six months, I have been waiting for an appointment with an editor or a friend in a hotel bar, and have been very obviously hit on by slimy men wearing wedding rings who say everything about themselves but the obvious.
What is left unsaid.
And in fiction, good fiction, you look for that nuance, too. You don't want pages of information dumping and back story. You also don't want everyone in every scene to TELL you exactly what they are feeling and thinking about every little thing like some overgrown therapy session. Because in real life, we aren't that way. As a writer, part of the craft is creating a "real" fictional world. And so your characters should leave things unsaid but show us those unsaid things in other ways.
Thoughts? What is left unsaid in your work in progress? In life?
Think about real life. People tell you things--and very often they have an agenda. It may not be a nefarious agenda, but whether we realize it or not, most of us try to present the best of public faces. We don't reveal our vulnerabilities until after we've known someone a while. And think about that--when someone DOES reveal every intimate detail about their life, like on a first date, we usually find it odd.
So while everyone presents their best face forward, it is up to us to discern. Can I trust this person? Is this really someone I want to work with? Spend time with? Date? We look at what people say. And we look at what is unsaid. Their body language. The things they seem to leave out of a story. Twice in the last six months, I have been waiting for an appointment with an editor or a friend in a hotel bar, and have been very obviously hit on by slimy men wearing wedding rings who say everything about themselves but the obvious.
What is left unsaid.
And in fiction, good fiction, you look for that nuance, too. You don't want pages of information dumping and back story. You also don't want everyone in every scene to TELL you exactly what they are feeling and thinking about every little thing like some overgrown therapy session. Because in real life, we aren't that way. As a writer, part of the craft is creating a "real" fictional world. And so your characters should leave things unsaid but show us those unsaid things in other ways.
Thoughts? What is left unsaid in your work in progress? In life?
Labels: information dumping, unsaid meaning
posted by Erica Orloff at 9:18 AM
5 Comments:
In life: My fears, insecurities, and worries. Maybe it's denial, but I have a habit of not giving them a liberal voice. It keeps them from swallowing me whole.
Hi Heather:
I have a need to vent my worries--then they don't seem so huge. But there's plenty of other stuff I leave unsaid--usually sadness.
E
I tend to be reclusive, perhaps due to former (positive thinking here) health issues. I tend to gather lots of information about and garner concern for others in my life, but initially reveal next to nothing about myself--as a survivor of childhood abuse, I suppose that's how I protect myself. As time passes, I'm learning to, if I discern the people and the situations are safe, to lower my guard.
Thanks, Erica, for the session on the couch--maybe I am getting better at revealing the "unrevealable."
Great post!
kathy:
I often find that when I am fearless about being honest and revealing myself, the things I thought could hurt me have no power. I leave little unsaid . . . though I have to say that now, over the years, as I've said it all--or most of it--there is less I feel I HAVE to say.
Ok, so that sounds convoluted but . . . LOL!
E
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