[tweetmeme source=”jjdanz” only_single=false service=ow.ly]
My earlier post about nuance in story, about delving into subtext and abstraction, did little more than scratch the surface. However, it brought me back to the the idea of showing rather than telling.
Why?
As writers, we hear this edict all the time. Sometimes I have a hard time determining if my writing is showing or telling. However, I’ve come to the conclusion that a way to determine if my writing is showing is if it conveys the subtext of the story. If a character’s actions and words hint at something going on beneath the basic story, if they give us a peek into a characters motivations without bluntly stating them, I feel like I am on the right track. Showing is the only way to get at these under layers of the story.
As a writer of fiction you are at constant pains not simply to say what you mean, but to mean more than you say.
Janet Burroway Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft
By no means have I mastered this distinction, but I find it a useful barometer of how I’m doing. I also find that if I engage the reader’s senses–the more the better–I am doing more showing than telling.
If the author connects all the dots and then announces the conclusion for the benefit of the reader, the writing is less engaging for the reader.
Or, to put it another way, show smoke, and let the reader infer fire.
Dennis G. Jerz’s blog post on Showing versus Telling
That’s the heart of showing: Giving the reader enough credit to take your clues and put them together. Readers like to feel intelligent and to enjoy discovering the subtext of things. I have to remind myself to give them a chance to do so rather than bludgeon them with my “genius”. If my beta readers tell me the story is lacking or the characters seem two-dimensional then I know I have more work to do.
Sometimes telling is a good thing, though, so I don’t abandon it altogether. Sometimes I don’t want my readers to bog down in the minutiae of how my main character got somewhere, or drag them through relatively eventless gaps in story time. Telling, if done well, can get you from one point in the story to another without derailing the flow.
How do you know if you are showing instead of telling when you write?
For some other blog posts on the topic check out these:
I think many of us struggle with this issue, but you’ve given some helpful insights here. 🙂
Thanks for referring people to my blog post.
Carol
Glad you found it helpful. I liked the way your post focused on one aspect of showing. I thought that really helped drive the point home.
Show smoke and let the reader infer fire. That’s brilliant =)
The only problem I have with show vs. tell is that I let it consume me. So I didn’t tell enough! ha. Sometimes, as you say, you DO have to tell. But it takes practice (and lord knows I’m far from perfecting it) to understand the right combination!
The thing I am striving for is to have my writing seem organic and in the background. In the end, it would seem balanced writing will do that best. Like you say, practice. More writing = better writing as long as we pay attention to details.
I liked that you pointed out that engaging the senses is a good way of showing. I agree. And there’s all that stuff that actors call “business.” If done well, writers can add in little characteristics that help to show (quirks, habits, etc.) I think having a good balance between showing and telling is ultimately the best way to go. It’s like this instinctual thing that you can feel out of the story, whether the language is working for you or not. magic, if you get it right!
It is magic. The analogy I like best is the layering artists do when they paint. If you strip off the top layer of paint, you won’t find blank canvas, but another layer of paint. It’s those layers that give the piece depth and resonate with the viewer/reader.
I think telling is essential sometimes. Showing can lead to too many words if done too often, imo. “He was tall, well over six feet,” is sometimes just what the doctor ordered.
No doubt. As someone fairly new to writing fiction, I am leery of overdoing it one way or the other. I suppose that’s what revision is for!
Pingback: uberVU - social comments