All We Know Is What We SEE & HEAR
Tips for Visual Writing
Writing a novel? Great! We can have long internal monologues, a dozen subplots, philosophical musings, and a page-long description of a dining room table set just so.
Writing a play? Wonderful! Soliloquies are a must. Actors love monologues. And dialogue can be endless. Twenty-page-long scenes recounting anecdotes that (hopefully) relate thematically to the plot – yep, all good.
Writing for film or TV? Well… none of the above. Please!
Film and TV are visual mediums. All the audience knows is what they see and hear. They won’t know the character’s thoughts or read the scene description, no matter how brilliant. That means you have to tell your story visually. And with as much brevity as you can muster.
This is known as Show Don’t Tell. And when a character explains something that could simply be shown – we call that a Show Don’t Tell Violation.
Let’s look at a couple ways to make sure your material brings it visually.
1. Double-check the dialogue.
Can you cut a line and instead get the story across with a visual? For example, as opposed to the husband coming up with a lengthy apology to his wife for acting like a douche, does he maybe simply fold the laundry -something he normally never does, and that they have perhaps fought over in the past?
2. Scrutinize action description.
Is it just there to describe the living room in a perfunctory manner, or does it actually tell a story? For example, a sofa dotted with cigarette burns, empty beer cans on the floor, and overdue bills on the coffee table convey a lot – without uttering a single line of dialogue.
3. Take a closer look at the plot.
Do we need to talk through every single plot point, or can we get the twist across in an action? For example, do we have to have the character monologue about how she switched the briefcases – or can we simply see her pack her briefcase full of papers – but later when she opens it up, now it’s full of money?
(And yes, we know that Netflix demands scripts be dumbed down for distracted viewers. We’ll talk more about that in a future article… believe that.)
4. Examine the character behavior.
A protagonist who desperately hugs his murse while on the subway doesn’t need to tell the audience that he’s uncomfortable and scared.
A gal who has photos of bathing suit models on the fridge as well as a timer lock doesn’t need to tell us that she’s serious about her diet.
Now go get visual!