As writers, we hear the phrase “Show, don’t tell” quite a bit. Like most things, there is more than one layer to this advice. A while back, I gave some advice on deep point of view, and in that post I did a section called Don’t Tell where I covered how to show instead of tell on a prose level. Today, I’d like to tackle the concept of showing and telling in a broader sense. Specifically, how that applies to writing in scene verses writing in summary.
Summary Vs. Scene
When you tell a story, there are two ways to portray it. There is scene, which means it’s told like a replay where all the details are conveyed. Otherwise, it can be told in summary, which is where the events are, as the word indicates, summarized. I’ve noticed one major dividing factor between the two: conflict. Scenes are conflict focused and driven, while summaries don’t have conflict as a driving factor. Both are useful for portraying important information, but scenes are more emotionally impactful than summaries.
I often see new writers convey their stories in mostly summary. While it’s great for children’s books where the audience’s reading comprehension is only just beginning to develop, most fiction books are written more in scenes than summary. Obviously, there are exceptions, but it’s rare. In order to draw readers into your story, you want them to feel the story unfold around them, which means writing in scenes. There will be a mixture of both scene and summary in every tale though, so let’s look at them on a deeper level.
Summary
Writing in summary is when you sum up the events and character reactions of a story. Summary means telling, not showing. Instead of giving a play-by-play of a character driving to work, you simply tell readers: “He drove through rush hour traffic to work.” Let’s examine the key components of summary, when to use it, and an example.
Key Components of Summary
There are three main components to writing summary. It occurs in condensed time, is abstract, and reports facts for the story.
1. Condensed Time
Summary doesn’t happen in real time. Readers aren’t watching the story unfold; they are getting the condensed version. Summary can cover hours, days, months, or even years in one sentence. It also can give updates on multiple characters and settings without showing a switch in POV or place. Essentially, summary allows leaps in time, space, or character.
2. Abstract
When writing in summary, the specifics are often glazed over or lost. Back to our rush hour example, there are no specifics about what plays on the radio, who cut off whom, or how frustration built in the character’s chest with every red light. The writer relies on the reader’s experience of a typical rush hour commute and leaves out the specifics. The abstract idea of rush hour isn’t explained. Big concepts can be conveyed in summary, especially when they are shared experiences most readers will have already.
3. Reports
Summary is used to tell facts or ideas. Let’s look at some examples. Three years passed. He had two big sisters who picked on him all the time. Heartbreak was her constant companion after nine broken engagements. These are all facts that can help readers understand the story better, but they are statements and not action on the page. Anything that reads like a report is summary.
When To Use Summary
It’s best to use summary when readers need to know something but not experience it. Summary can be used to move time faster, jump between settings, and provide context for the plot or characters. It’s also very helpful in creating scene transitions so you don’t have to show everything and can jump to the important moments.
There are a few questions I like to ask when deciding if a moment in the story should be written in summary. Would a play-by-play be boring? If the protagonist’s actions are things everyone does regularly, then it would be boring for a reader and can be summarized. Is there a lack of conflict? If there is no tension or anticipation built up, then it could be summarized. Is the dialogue empty and habitual? If characters are saying simple greetings or asking how work was, the conversation can be skimmed over so all dialogue stays intriguing and pertinent to the plot.
Summary Example
Let’s look at a rough example of how part of a story could read as a summary, like if we want to drop in some backstory about our protagonist, Alexandra.
Alexandra wanted to ask Sean out, but she doubted he’d say yes. Still, she worked up her courage and decided to ask anyway. Then he mentioned his ideal type was the opposite of her. So, she just kept her mouth shut and left.
Scene
Writing in scene means that you show the story unfold so that readers feel like a part of the story. Scenes show, not tell. Instead of stating your character interviewed a suspect, show the character enter the interrogation room, ask questions, feel emotions, think through answers, etc. Let’s look at the key components of scenes, when to use them, and an example.
Key Components Of Scene
There are three key parts to writing in scene. The story happens in real time, is concrete, and dramatizes the events and feelings that occur.
1. Real Time
Writing in scene means keeping things in real time. The story happens as the action unfolds. It’s like you take the reader and drop them physically into a moment in time. Let them experience everything for themselves with all the action, reaction, and feelings that go with it. Because things happen in real time, scenes cannot jump to another time or setting without showing the change or ending the scene. Everything about scenes is the here and now.
2. Concrete
Scenes are filled with concrete details. This is where you put all the sensory details, visceral feelings, and thoughts characters experience. How does getting fired make a man feel? Does he hear the whispers of his coworkers? Is his mind spinning, trying to figure out how to pay the bills due at the end of the week? Also, a scene is centered on a specific character in one setting. If you switch POVs or settings, then you must end the scene and start a new one. Scenes keep a narrow focus on one time and place and get into the nitty gritty details.
3. Dramatizes
Scenes dramatize what happens in the story. They take one moment in time and stretch it to explain all the things happening at once. There is also a shift that happens in the character, either growing or backsliding in the character arc. If there isn’t a shift in the character (or plot) in a scene, then it’s not a good scene. The point of showing a scene is to allow readers to see change happen. Life is full of changes. Letting readers see those shifts as they occur gives readers the feeling they are living the story beside the characters. Any time a story is being experienced rather than told, it’s a scene.
When To Use Scene
Scenes should be used most of the time in a novel, if you want your readers to experience the story. Any part of the tale that is impactful and shifts trajectory, write it as a scene. Big moments of decision. Life-changing events. Deep emotional times. All these should be shown on the page.
Here are some questions I ask when deciding if a part of the story should be written in scene. Is this a high-conflict moment? The more tension on the page, the better. If this is where your characters (and readers) struggle and sweat it out, then write it as a scene. Is this a significant turning point in the plot? If an event happens that shifts the trajectory of the plot, then it needs to be shown on the page.
Does the character make an important decisions or learn something life-changing? Sometimes writers skim over big moments in the character arc, and the result can be readers thinking the protagonist acted out of character. This confusing change for readers happens because the moment of decision or change wasn’t shown in scene, and the readers are still thinking the protagonist has the old mindset. If that change is shown on the page, then readers will follow when a character acts differently than the norm.
Scene Example
Back to our story example, let’s pretend that instead of backstory, that moment Alexandra wanted to ask Sean out is happening now as a key part of the story. See below how the same few sentences in summary can be transformed into a scene.
Sean stood right there in front of the public library. Brown hair hanging down in his eyes, sharp cheekbones, lean muscle. He wore one of those common white t-shirts he always sported outside of school. Alexandra could just walk up and ask him on a date. None of his friends were there to witness her humiliation when he inevitably said no.
Her chest tightened just thinking about it. But what if he said yes? A definite no couldn’t be worse than a potential yes hanging over her head. Could she live with the regret of never knowing?
Alexandra sucked in a breath and marched toward him before her mind changed again. “Hi, Sean,” she said, her words a little breathless.
“Hey.” He nodded at her, his gaze searching her face like he was trying to place her.
“You here researching the WWII paper?” Alexandra asked, trying to help his memory.
His blue eyes lit up. “Nah, Alexandra.”
A smile tugged up her lips at his use of her name.
He ran a hand through his hair. “That’s not due until next month. You’re the only one who’d start this early.” His gaze roved the parking lot.
“Are you waiting for someone? A…date?”
His gaze slid to her, that devastating smirk of his making an appearance. “No date for me tonight.”
Alexandra couldn’t help but smile back, a light tingling buzzed in her veins. She had a chance.
“I need a break after Marianna,” Sean said. “She made it impossible to breathe. All her planning and perfectionism stressed me out. I could never be with someone like that.” Sean’s eyes went round. “No offense, Alexandra. Hard workers are nice and all, just not my type.”
She just nodded, still smiling. Her face seemed to have frozen that way. Yet a load of bricks dropped on her shoulders. Not his type. Well, she was a planner, but a perfectionist? No. Sure, she always wanted perfect scores on her schoolwork, but that didn’t make her a perfectionist, right? She fingered the hem of her purple jacket that matched her socks. Shoot. She was a perfectionist.
“Oh, Jeremiah is here. See you later,” Sean said with a wave.
She kept her mouth shut and rushed into the library.
Merging Summary And Scene For Story
While I’ve stated most novels today are written more in scene than summary, there is always a combination of the two. Summaries set up a scene well and create good transitions between scenes. There is also a place for summary within a scene, as sometimes context is needed that can’t be seen in the moment.
On the other hand, passages of summary sometimes need scenes within them. Long summary sections can get boring or kick readers out of their experience in the story. To fix this, sometimes the summary can be broken up with scene-like moments. These are called half-scenes, and we will dig more into them in the next section.
Half-Scenes
Scenes deliver tension and conflict. If a scene doesn’t have any but must be in the story, you can summarize it. However, if part of the tale has a small spike of conflict, you can write it as a half-scene to make it feel more immersive. A half-scene is when summary pauses for a beat to rely a clip of a scene before returning to summary. It slows down time and comes in close (maybe with some sensory details or dialogue) to pull readers into the moment. Half-scenes can be very useful for pacing while conveying information.
Half-Scene Example
Let’s use Alexandra’s story one more time to craft an example of a half-scene. What I did was look at what key moments were the most impactful in her arc and also what parts showed the most conflict. Then I summarized the rest while grounding readers in those key moments. This can create a summary that is still giving backstory, but perhaps it’s a big turning point in her past that we want to dramatize a little.
Alexandra had wanted to ask Sean out, but she doubted he’d say yes. Her chest had tightened just thinking about it. But what if he said yes? A definite no couldn’t be worse than a potential yes hanging over her head. Could she live with the regret of never knowing?
She’d sucked in a breath and marched toward him before her mind changed again. She would never forget that devastating smirk of his, the one that said he had a secret and would only tell her. Alexandra couldn’t help but smile back at him, a light tingling buzzed in her veins.
The conversation was going well until he said those two fatal sentences. “No offense, Alexandra. Hard workers are nice and all, just not my type.” He hadn’t even been talking about her, but his ex. Apparently, they were too similar.
So, Alexandra just kept her mouth shut and left.
Final Thoughts
I hope this has been helpful for figuring out when to come in close and when to do an overview for your story. It’s important to pull readers in, but summary is essential to a good tale too. Just remember to speed up and summarize in the boring times and slow down into a scene when conflict appears and things get tense. And, if an experienced writer or professional comments on your manuscript to “Show, don’t tell,” it’s very likely you’re writing too much in summary and not enough in scene. Bring the readers into the story with scenes, and you’ll get better reactions to your story.
Thanks for reading!
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