The Writing Lesson
By C. Hope Clark
“Use the senses in every single scene,” I emphasized to the adult writing class, only for a rebound of clueless stares to bounce back at me.
A middle-aged, bottled-brunette lady who I’d heard had two self-published books to her name already, asked, “In every scene?”
I smiled and nodded. “In every scene. You understand show don’t tell, right?”
In rote union, the class nodded, but I could almost smell the insecurity.
“Get rid of passive voice and you’ve halfway mastered show don’t tell, right?” Don’t plead, I reminded myself. They’re trying to learn.
Half the people in the class had self-published books yet didn’t understand what I was trying to instill into their eager, storytelling brains. They looked to their left and right, seeking validation from seat mates, confirmation that others weren’t understanding either.
We sat in a library meeting room, the accordion doors opened to accommodate tables for 35 students. Nobody chatted amongst themselves, meaning I had their attention, unfortunately accompanied by their confusion.
No point in advancing to the next topic if this one hadn’t sunk in. Not a person to enjoy presentations, much less adlibbing on the fly, my pulse quickened. I scrambled for an alternative, a new angle, anything that could give these students an AHA moment.
A deep breath, or was it a sigh? I should’ve brought more examples. Maybe vetted the students somehow.
Feet moved. One chair scratched the floor as someone shifted. The librarian sat in the back, scrutinizing, sending another jolt of adrenaline into my system as our eyes met, hers querying, They’re waiting, before shifting uncomfortably off me.
A seed of a half-thought took root. “Everyone pick up your pen.”
They did, anxious to be proactive and not so lost. The librarian didn’t, but she watched with interest.
Impromptu on anyone’s part snares interest. Most of us can’t do it. I wasn’t so sure I had it in me, either, but what did I have to lose other than my credibility? I reminded myself what I always did when speaking to groups, a mantra that I didn’t readily tell other about. If this doesn’t go well, remember you’ll never see these people again.
“Write down five things you see,” I said. “Remember, you’re a creative person so don’t just say tables, chairs, walls, and people.”
To show how united I was with their effort, I grabbed a pad and wrote as well. Once done, I waited until half had returned their attention back to me.
“Now, list five things you can touch and how they feel.”
Eyebrows raised on that one, and they began stroking anything within reach. They saw where I was going, and the body language told me some clearly accepted the challenge.
Heads up again.
“List five things you hear.”
The room went silent. I had to laugh. Pens went to paper when I did.
“List five things you smell.”
Frowns all around. I closed my eyes and inhaled. Coffee, cologne, body odor. Was that paper? I recalled the air freshener in the bathroom next door and cheated, listing it. When I peeked out from my own reverie, others still had their eyes closed, sensing, too.
“Finally,” I said, “let’s do taste.”
Lips smacked, and I had to chuckle again. A laugh rippled across the tables. “List five tastes you had today.”
“Ahhh,” came the relief as pens met paper.
As people came back to life, I realized how much more relaxed I was. “Do y’all feel better?”
Nods and yeahs from around the room.
Shrugging shoulders for show, I sucked in a deep breath. “Wow, that was rather soothing.”
More nods. The librarian was practically tranquil.
And in that moment, I had a revelation.
As a nature aficionado, how many times had I sat at the lake and just chilled? Closed my eyes and attempted to count the types of bird calls? Told my four-year-old grandson to take in the smells, sounds, and feel of nature? Weeded my garden and taken the time to smell the dirt, the rotted leaves, the honeysuckle on the fence.
“What we just did,” I soothingly said to myself as much as them, “is a writer’s version of meditating. Take a moment to settle into a sense of nothingness when you’re writing, then fill it in with the senses, taking note of each one.”
They listened.
“This is also how you can overcome the pressure of deadlines, writer’s block, and the discomfort of whatever scene you’re writing that won’t unfold to your liking. It’s also how you can challenge your sensory perception. Wherever you are, the mall, the kitchen, the job. . . take five minutes and meditate, for no reason other than to define your senses. All five of them.”
Palms out, I lowered them gently. “In each scene, step back and insert yourself into the setting. Do the exercise we just did. Because by you becoming the character in all this sensory detail, you write such that the reader can become the character. The reader smells, sees, hears, touches, and tastes. And with the least little attention also to passive voice, you–” and I paused.
“Show don’t tell,” whispered several people.
“Some kid would call that virtual reality,” said a man in the front.
What a keen observation. And I thought he hadn’t been listening. “And why can’t we do that as people, too? When we aren’t writing. When we need to settle into a scene and out of whatever road block or irritation it is we need to depart from as people?”
The class went on, and I wrapped up the lesson on constructing a scene. Time quickly expired, and before long I was shaking hands from thankful students.
“Best writing class ever.”
“I get showing now.”
“I’m going home and telling my teenager about this.”
Once everyone left, the librarian commended me, saying she’d be inviting me back.
I almost cried.
Then alone, the lights flipping off around the library, I exited to my car parked in the corner of the lot under a streetlight, stepping gently, not wanting to break the specialness of the evening.
Rather than telling the reader what’s going on, my students could now make the reader experience what the character does, when the character does it, tallying the stimuli in an attempt to reach some sort of summation about that point in the story.
But in delivering that lesson, I’d realized I could choose to fall out of any negative in any part of my world, and step into the scene of my choosing via the practice of a writing exercise. Not only could I write like this, but I could live like this.
And I’d just helped 35 other people learn to love life more, too.
And a librarian.
BIO: C. Hope Clark’s newest release is Newberry Sin, set in an idyllic small Southern town where blackmail and sex are hush-hush until they become murder. The fourth in the Carolina Slade Mysteries. Hope speaks to conferences, libraries, and book clubs across the country, is a regular podcaster for Writer’s Digest, and adores connecting with others. She is also founder of FundsforWriters.com, an award-winning site and newsletter service for writers. She lives on the banks of Lake Murray in central South Carolina with her federal agent husband where they never tire of spinning mysteries. www.chopeclark.com
Book Blurb:
Beneath an idyllic veneer of Southern country charm, the town of Newberry hides secrets that may have led to murder.
When a local landowner’s body, with pants down, is found near Tarleton’s Tea Table Rock – a notorious rendezvous spot, federal investigator Carolina Slade senses a chance to get back into the field again. Just as she discovers what might be a nasty pattern of fraud and blackmail, her petty boss reassigns her fledgling case to her close friend and least qualified person in their office.
Forces to coach an investigation from the sidelines, Slade struggles with the twin demons of professional jealousy and unplanned pregnancy. Something is rotten in Newberry. Her personal life is spiraling out of control. She can’t protect her co-worker. And Wayne Largo complicates everything when the feds step in after it become clear that Slade is right.
One wrong move, and Slade may lose everything. Yet it’s practically out of her hands…unless she finds a way to take this case back without getting killed
Be sure to check out all of C. Hope Clark’s book on her website www.chopeclark.com
Sign up for C. Hope Clark’s FREE newsletter FundsforWriters and get writing tips, lists of contests, and so much more!
Purchase Books Here:
Amazon link https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BYD5T4P/
Kobo link https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/newberry-sin
B&N link https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/newberry-sin-c-hope-clark/1128369562
Google link https://play.google.com/store/books/details/C_Hope_Clark_Newberry_Sin
Apple link https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/newberry-sin/
Review Link (Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/review/create-review/ref=?ie=UTF8&asin=B07BYD5T4P#
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