Show Your Work by Warren Bull

 

Image by Frederico Innocenti on Unsplash

Your Work: A blog by Warren Bull

My excellent fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Row, used to advise her students to, “show your work,” i.e., to show how we reached the solutions we came to in math. She extended that idea to other subjects too. Her point was we should show, not just answers, but the thought processes that led to the answers. It must have been good advice because I remember it and I try to remember the concept in my writing.

I’ve also been told about writing, “never let them see you sweat.” When I read a piece of work that flows so smoothly that I don’t notice how the writing was done, as an author I know how much brain sweat and writing heavy lifting it took to achieve. That’s a different goal.

In my case, the show your work advice kicks in when it is not clear to readers how the situation described in my writing came about. I’m currently writing a cantata. Is that clear? Probably not to most people. I need to show my work. A cantata is a series of songs for voices (for example, solos, duets, and choruses) with musical accompaniment that tells a story.  For more information expressed more melodically see: https://www.google.com/search?q=what+is+a+cantata&oq=what+is+a+&aqs=chrome.3.69i59j69i57j35i39j0i67l7.10604j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 

In my case, in addition to the songs, there is also a spoken narrative that advances the plot. Classically, that would also be sung.

The story I am telling is about slavery and emancipation in the United States. Oddly enough, there is a single point in the geography of the continental United States, the site of Fort Monroe on the banks of the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia, where many events associated with slavery took place. So, I start in that location. The time frame is roughly four hundred years. Historical figures appear and sing, a chorus sings, and a guide chronicles the history. 

I know the audience will probably not be aware of the circumstances of the first Africans sold into slavery so I wrote a song for the first enslaved people, Anthony and Isabella, to sing that tells their story. However, I am so engrossed in the history that I forget what else the audience will not know.  John C. Calhoun is a villain, but few people lacking my obsession know his name or what ideas he espoused. Harriet Tubman is a heroine but, even if her name might sound vaguely familiar, people will probably need a reminder of who she was and what she achieved.

People in my critique group are very helpful when they ask: Who? What just happened? And what does that word mean?  I also need to have people of color look at my word choice and ideas to see how they sound to people who are likely to have a strong emotional reaction to the content. 

Thank you, Mrs. Row.