This blog originally appeared on GIO, but I intend to continue talking about it here too.
Here's the thing. While this post isn't exactly about video games, it serves a necessary function in creating them. Creative writing is an essential part in making engrossing scripts for game play. Since some of you out there are interested in video games so much, I thought it would be nice to show you just how much work can go into writing a story. That and I'm apparently the resident English teacher. That and I honestly have nothing better to do.
So here's a crash course in writing out the story of your dreams. This blog will be developed in parts. So don't worry about being overloaded with information. So let's begin with...
Part 1- Blending Concrete Detail with Abstract Themes and Generalizations
I'm telling you right now that the most important thing when it comes to writing a story is not the structure, it's not pacing, it's not dialogue. To create a truly engaging piece of work, you need to understand the difference between concrete and abstract. In writing, these terms are often associated with the concept of "Showing, not telling."
Let's see if you can pick out the difference between these two pieces of texts discussing the same thing.
1.She was ugly. I knew this bus trip would be a long one.
2. There was a mole with a single hair placed just so above her lips that if you ever dared to kiss her, you were sure to get a taste. Her urine-tinted teeth were cracked like the plastic frame of the bus seats, curling into a smile like the back window wiper blades, jamming mid-stroke in the afternoon rain. The bus sloshed on and I counted down the hours until my stop would arrive.
Did you notice a difference? The first example did what is known as "telling." It relied on abstractions. To explain, "ugly" doesn't paint a mental image (though who'd want a mental image of a lady like that?!). Saying the bus ride would be long also fails to get the narrator's feeling on the situation across.
When you look at the second, nowhere does it call the lady ugly, but you know she is. Why? Instead of telling you the lady is ugly, it shows you through vivid, concrete detailing. You can easily picture that lady with the crooked, cracked half-smile. Likewise, you get the sense of how uncomfortable the narrator is as he/she begins to "count down the hours."
So which do you think is more memorable? Which to you will grab the reader's attention and take hold of them? Clearly, the second is more interesting. But let's try something a bit harder. See which is the strongest out of these next three examples:
1. Her hair was curly and brown. It moved up and down as she crossed in front of my aging sedan with the dent. There was no way a beauty like that would even look in my direction.
2. Her auburn hair moved up and down as she crossed in front of my aging Accord with the dent on the front passenger side door. I sighed with remorse as she never once bothered to even look towards me before stepping again onto the sidewalk.
3. Her chocolate hair bobbed with each step as she glided along the crosswalk. I felt like my poor gray Accord; dented on the side, sputtering to a halt, and constantly being serviced.
Which do you think is the best sentence? Each of them actually has something good to them. Each gives a bit of description about the girl and the guy watching. However, the last paints a more vivid picture. It's detailing is a lot more solid, more creative in diction. Doesn't "chocolate hair" sound stronger than "brown" or "auburn?"
But aside from its diction, example three highlights an important feature. It demonstrates a balance between showing and telling. Notice how the second sentence starts off by telling: "I felt like my poor gray Accord." Why is this okay? First off and most important of all, it avoids cliche.
It's a unique and fresh way of description. However, even if it did happen to be cliche, the follow up would make it okay through its use of concrete detail once more. "Dented on the side" suggests a blatant imperfection in the narrator, "sputtering to a halt" implies age, and "constantly being serviced" can be a reference to his health.
When we think of balancing between using concrete description to show something and making abstract statements to tell, it'll help to keep this in mind.
Making generalizations and abstractions encompass a very wide range of things. Therefore, think of it as weighing more. Concrete details are very precise and focused on a single subject. Therefore, they weigh less. While you cannot put an exact number value, remember that if you want to balance the scale you'll need a whole lot of concrete detail, but you still need a bit of abstractions.
Let's see if you understand the difference. In the comments, take an idea. First, write it in a way that specifically uses generalizations. Then, write it using as much concrete detail that you can come up with. Of course, you can skip this exercise entirely and just tell me if I did a good job of explaining the concepts :P
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