I would have liked the piece much better if it had been well-written. As it was, I kept cringing and thinking 'now why should I be paying attention to this person again?'
I tend to prefer 'showing' to 'telling', but (as you suggest) the line isn't always clear. Some narrative voices are just inherently 'tell-y' -- the section of Sound & the Fury narrated by the uncle springs to mind. He has to make clear to us that he knows what the DEAL is, so the TELL is really also a SHOW. (This leads me to imagine a story comprised of narration that TELLS us in some detail exactly what's going on, and gets it drastically wrong without the narrator realizing it -- while it's made clear to us at the same time what's really REALLY going on...) Similarly if a thing or a process or an event is a metaphor for something else, or if the telling about it is an interesting part of the narrative itself, then the TELLING can also be SHOWING. And that's not even to get into the 'spirit of place' (another thing Faulkner's big on), where the setting becomes a character. That's essential in Michener, or so I'm told by my father, who's worked his way through almost the entire Michener catalog. (Next up, *Adverbs: Scourge of Mankind, or Your Really Friendly Helper?*) On Tue, Jan 4, 2011 at 12:02 AM, Sal Armoniac <[email protected]> wrote: > Great site, Frank. Some wonderful insights! But in 4) the author makes it > seem that any kind of* thinking* is 'telling." The passage he gave as > punchy telling was an internal monologue when it was just as allusive and > mysterious as a conversation. So then does dialogue make it "showing?" > When is an info dump boring or marvelous? > > Show and tell are much more entangled than you'd think. That's why I've > always hated the smug "show" don't "tell" rule, usually coming from > high-school teachers of creative writing. I take to heart the advice not to > hide the essential mystery of your story in unnecessary detail, or not to > rob the emotional impact of the story in the same way. I think my "Naked > Girl" did too much "showing." But then they were all monologues by three > different characters. It's hard to know whether you're telling or showing > when in the first person. > > Good luck with your story! > Sally > > On Sat, Jan 1, 2011 at 11:57 AM, <[email protected]> wrote: > >> >> I'm trying to walk this line in writing a story, myself... >> >> http://io9.com/5722161/5-situations-where-its-better-to-tell-than-show-in >> -your-fiction<http://io9.com/5722161/5-situations-where-its-better-to-tell-than-show-in-your-fiction> >> >> >> Frank >> >> Check out my web page at: http://delphinus100.angelfire.com/link3.htm >> >> "Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds >> discuss people." >> - Eleanor Roosevelt >> ____________________________________________________________ >> Refinance Rates at 2.8% >> $160,000 Mortgage $434/mo. No Hidden Fees- 3.1% APR! Get a Free Quote >> http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4d2290627c7f198ab2m07duc >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "R-SPEC: The Rochester Speculative Literature Association" group. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> [email protected]<r-spec%[email protected]> >> . >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/r-spec?hl=en. >> >> > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "R-SPEC: The Rochester Speculative Literature Association" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]<r-spec%[email protected]> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/r-spec?hl=en. > -- -- eric scoles | [email protected] -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "R-SPEC: The Rochester Speculative Literature Association" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/r-spec?hl=en.
