Nothing is more frustrating for a writer than the old adage of "show, don't tell."
The first time I encountered this terrible (well meaning) advice was at a writer's workshop for teachers about seven years ago. The instructor used the example of "the milk spilled." He told us that was telling, and we needed to re-write it as "showing"... what would it look like? Smell like? Sound like?
It all seems well and good and you come away feeling like it is a magical formula for writing immersive fiction... until you realize that if you show every single thing in your story it is going to be a million words long.
So now what? What do you tell and what do you show? What does show, don't tell actually mean?
For me, personally, show don't tell is big picture. Not the little line by line incidentals.
If a writer opens up with a scene showing two sisters nicely playing with dolls, but the writer then goes on to tell me "Suzie didn't really like her sister. She found her annoying." I might pause for a moment and think... well, why didn't you show me that? You have shown me something totally different than what you are telling me.
When I am planning a scene I make a list of scene goals. They might include something along the lines of "Show why the MC thinks her dad is lazy." "Show her frustration with having to look after him all the time."
Big picture stuff. Not the tiny, line by line details.
Another way I think of it is, as Dem puts it (thanks to Buzz Lightyear), showing is just telling with style. I love to use the first lines of American Gods for this example.
Shadow had done three years in prison. He looked big enough and don't fuck with me enough that his biggest problem was killing time. So he kept himself in shape and taught himself coin tricks and thought a lot about his wife.
Gaiman could have spent four chapters showing life in prison. Showing Shadow sitting around feeling sad. Showing him taking coin trick books out from the library and teaching himself... but again, then the story would be ten thousand words long. This is where you need to use discretion as an author. About how long do you want your story to be? Be reasonable. Don't say "as long as it needs to be". How much sitting around moping is your reader going to tolerate? Sometimes you have to cut the showing so that you can get to the good parts. Show those. Show the stuff that really matters. For the rest, just use "telling with style." lol.
What do you think Scribes?
How do you use the rule of show, don't tell? When do you know when to show and when to just tell?
How do you define the phrase?
The first time I encountered this terrible (well meaning) advice was at a writer's workshop for teachers about seven years ago. The instructor used the example of "the milk spilled." He told us that was telling, and we needed to re-write it as "showing"... what would it look like? Smell like? Sound like?
It all seems well and good and you come away feeling like it is a magical formula for writing immersive fiction... until you realize that if you show every single thing in your story it is going to be a million words long.
So now what? What do you tell and what do you show? What does show, don't tell actually mean?
For me, personally, show don't tell is big picture. Not the little line by line incidentals.
If a writer opens up with a scene showing two sisters nicely playing with dolls, but the writer then goes on to tell me "Suzie didn't really like her sister. She found her annoying." I might pause for a moment and think... well, why didn't you show me that? You have shown me something totally different than what you are telling me.
When I am planning a scene I make a list of scene goals. They might include something along the lines of "Show why the MC thinks her dad is lazy." "Show her frustration with having to look after him all the time."
Big picture stuff. Not the tiny, line by line details.
Another way I think of it is, as Dem puts it (thanks to Buzz Lightyear), showing is just telling with style. I love to use the first lines of American Gods for this example.
Shadow had done three years in prison. He looked big enough and don't fuck with me enough that his biggest problem was killing time. So he kept himself in shape and taught himself coin tricks and thought a lot about his wife.
Gaiman could have spent four chapters showing life in prison. Showing Shadow sitting around feeling sad. Showing him taking coin trick books out from the library and teaching himself... but again, then the story would be ten thousand words long. This is where you need to use discretion as an author. About how long do you want your story to be? Be reasonable. Don't say "as long as it needs to be". How much sitting around moping is your reader going to tolerate? Sometimes you have to cut the showing so that you can get to the good parts. Show those. Show the stuff that really matters. For the rest, just use "telling with style." lol.
What do you think Scribes?
How do you use the rule of show, don't tell? When do you know when to show and when to just tell?
How do you define the phrase?