Post by account_disabled on Dec 25, 2023 4:07:26 GMT
It almost seems like a Hamlet question, but in my opinion it is a question that the writer must ask himself. We often read - and recently it has come up again - about the Show, don't tell rule . The blog 31 October talked about it last December, which made an interesting analysis of the rule. Before him the blog Fantasy shrimp talked about it and defined it a fundamental narrative technique. It is an exhortation to writers to avoid the abstract and always favor the concrete. The narrative must be a succession of concrete details; details that stimulate the reader's senses, that recall images, sounds, smells, tastes.
In that article, which I recommend reading because it is exhaustive, several examples are given to understand the difference between showing and telling. I also recommend reading the article written by Special Data Dawn Copeman, How to “Show Don't Tell” , which explains with examples when to use the rule and when not to. Another article instead says not to care (“Show? Tell? Don't care” on the La Vera Editoria blog). In this article there is a fair observation about some authors who have told more than shown. I myself remember Lovecraft, but Manzoni also told a lot in The Betrothed . I must say that until recently I hadn't asked myself this dilemma at all, in fact I wasn't even aware of it.
And in fact, rereading those few stretched stories that I have jotted down in the past years, my rule has always been that of the Tell and that's it. After all, aren't fairy tales and fairy tales always told? But perhaps it depends on the goal to be achieved, on the writer's intentions. I read fully narrated Oscar Wilde stories. They went without problems. So, show or tell? The thesis, which I have read almost everywhere, is what I also think. Depends. It depends on what you are writing and what situation you are dealing with. A children's fairy tale must be told. But an entire novel cannot be told without showing anything.
In that article, which I recommend reading because it is exhaustive, several examples are given to understand the difference between showing and telling. I also recommend reading the article written by Special Data Dawn Copeman, How to “Show Don't Tell” , which explains with examples when to use the rule and when not to. Another article instead says not to care (“Show? Tell? Don't care” on the La Vera Editoria blog). In this article there is a fair observation about some authors who have told more than shown. I myself remember Lovecraft, but Manzoni also told a lot in The Betrothed . I must say that until recently I hadn't asked myself this dilemma at all, in fact I wasn't even aware of it.
And in fact, rereading those few stretched stories that I have jotted down in the past years, my rule has always been that of the Tell and that's it. After all, aren't fairy tales and fairy tales always told? But perhaps it depends on the goal to be achieved, on the writer's intentions. I read fully narrated Oscar Wilde stories. They went without problems. So, show or tell? The thesis, which I have read almost everywhere, is what I also think. Depends. It depends on what you are writing and what situation you are dealing with. A children's fairy tale must be told. But an entire novel cannot be told without showing anything.