A writer's restraint

UPDATE: Long time since my last post. A lot has happened. My novel has taken three first-places in three different contests. Let's hope I can publish it! I'm working on two long narrative journalism projects, too.

Music mood: The End of the World As We Know It, by R.E.M. (Did you see that show on the History Channel last night about 2012?)

So, OK...what topic does it take to bring me out of blog hybernation? I saw the movie DOUBT (based on the play by John Patrick Shanley) over the weekend, and I haven't really walked out of the theater yet. The movie is still with me, churning in my brain.

The acting was astounding. I expected no less from a cast that includes Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. But it's not the acting that still has me shaking my head in awe. It's the restraint shown by Shanley in his original story.

One of my favorite quotes about writing, credited to Mark Twain, is that writing is not the art of revealing information, but withholding it.

Shanley proves that quote to be true in DOUBT. The story is set in a New York Catholic parish in the mid-1960s, run by a young, progressive priest who butts heads with the strict, traditional Sister Aloysius, principal of the school. Aloysius accuses Father Flynn of having an inappropriate relationship with a young boy.

Here's where Shanley's restraint comes in: The nun's accusation stems from an incident that Shanley never shows to the readers (or even to Aloysisus, for that matter). We never truly know what happened in the rectory. We don't see it. Father Flynn doesn't reveal the details. And the boy is never questioned about it.

As the title suggests, we are all left with our own sense of certainty or doubt. You either believe Aloysius, or you believe Flynn.

Think about the restraint Shanley had to draw upon to make this possible. Many writers would not be satisfied to leave readers guessing. They would find a way to take us into that rectory to see for ourselves what happened. If Shanley had done so, I would have likely forgotten about the movie already.

Instead, I am still debating Flynn's guilt with myself and the people who saw the movie with me. We are still in doubt.