Steven Erikson on 'Show Don't Tell' and Creating a Scene

[Ankari]

You can find the blog here.

The guy is a master at setting the mood.

I know, all this is sounding obvious, but what isn’t so obvious is what drives the decision-making process when constructing that narrative. You want to suggest the image in the puzzle, but you cannot reasonably include all those pieces. The more you ‘tell’ the less you suggest; the less you suggest the more you insist; the more you insist the less you trust your reader; the less you trust your reader the more likely you are to lose them.

So, here’s a vague rule. Physical details needed to set a scene can be ‘told,’ but it is best to do so via the point of view of a character in that scene. I note this as being ‘vague’ because sometimes the narrative voice is itself a character, a shaper of how events are supposed to be seen, but that’s a different kind of storytelling.

Genius!

 

[gavintonks]

sound advice

 

[Steerpike]

Good quotes, Ankari. I think Erikson is right, and with respect to the part you highlighted, I often write stories in which the narrative voice is important and where you do not want it to fade into the background. I think we could use more of that these days, though I don't suggest that all stories should be written in such a manner.

 

[JCFarnham]

Good quotes, Ankari. I think Erikson is right, and with respect to the part you highlighted, I often write stories in which the narrative voice is important and where you do not want it to fade into the background. I think we could use more of that these days, though I don't suggest that all stories should be written in such a manner.

I'm certainly with you there.