Post History
It strikes me that this difficulty in deciding how to format all of these languages is just a canary in the coal mine keeling over to let you know that this is all going to be too confusing for the...
Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed
by
System
·
2020-01-03T20:41:53Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/27168 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added
by
System
·
2019-12-08T06:14:06Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/27168 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision
by
System
·
2019-12-08T06:14:06Z (over 4 years ago)
It strikes me that this difficulty in deciding how to format all of these languages is just a canary in the coal mine keeling over to let you know that this is all going to be too confusing for the reader. This is one of those times when it is better to tell than to show. If the mother switches back and forth between two languages and swears a lot, tell us that, if it actually matters to the story, but don't attempt to reproduce the effect in prose because we are not going to be able to follow. The is exactly the sort of thing where it is more revelatory to be told something that to be shown it, because we would not be able to understand it if it were shown. The author is the tour guide of the story and sometimes the tour guide's commentary is essential to knowing what you are looking at or to understand its significance.
#1: Imported from external source
by
System
·
2017-03-15T12:21:53Z (about 7 years ago)
Original score: 2