Leveling And Sharpening

Leveling and sharpening is a descriptive term for the process that occurs when one retells a story. It is a process of dramatizing the high points of the story and filling in some of the blanks with believable information.

A common example of this is when listening to a friend retell a humorous situation that happened to them years ago. They most likely won't tell the entire, detailed story - they may leave out some of the more mundane details but also may add drama to the retelling by adding dialogue, or commentary on what people involved were thinking or feeling, or other changes in order to retain the audience's interest.