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To me, the phrase Show don't Tell can have only one clear meaning, and it comes down to what it means to show. Show means to describe what the reader would see for themselves if they were present i...
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#4: Attribution notice removed
by
System
·
2020-01-03T20:41:50Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/24164 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added
by
System
·
2019-12-08T05:29:41Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/24164 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision
by
System
·
2019-12-08T05:29:41Z (about 5 years ago)
To me, the phrase Show don't Tell can have only one clear meaning, and it comes down to what it means to show. Show means to describe what the reader would see for themselves if they were present in the scene. This means that you can describe action and you can report dialog. You can also describe the scenery, though not its history or its significance. You cannot describe thoughts or motivations, because those cannot be seen, and what cannot be seen cannot be shown. All you can show is the things people do or say as a result of their thoughts or motivations: the things the reader could see for themselves if they were a fly on the wall. If "show" is allowed to encompass things that cannot be seen, then where is the limit to it? What then is not showing? What would then count as telling? This definition does not make "show don't tell" bad advice or good advice, but it does make it a technique that is rarely seen in successful published fiction, either today or in the past.
#1: Imported from external source
by
System
·
2016-08-16T15:46:30Z (over 8 years ago)
Original score: 5