Are there any guidelines for writing a fiction story in a non-fiction style?
Jorge Luis Borges wrote a lot of short stories describing fictional things and places directly to the reader (like The Library of Babel).
For instance, let's see one excerpt of Decline and Fall of Roman Empire (Edward Gibbon):
When Persia was governed by the descendants of Sefi, a race of princes whose wanton cruelty often stained their divan, their table, and their bed, with the blood of their favorites, there is a saying recorded of a young nobleman, that he never departed from the sultan's presence, without satisfying himself whether his head was still on his shoulders.
This is the style of writing I'm aiming for - telling the reader about something interesting, NOT creating characters, dialogs and embedding the information there. So, I would like to write in this non-fiction style but describing a fiction story, like this:
Orion was a hot land with white grass and shallow lakes. The region was inhabited by prideful hunters, white-clothed beings who were often in war with themselves. In the third era, Orion was ruled by Rigel, a king with no crown, but golden boots. He was more peaceful than his father Saiph and all rulers before him, and the reason for his amicable and non-violent attitude was his sister Bellatrix.
Are there any guidelines to write like this? It seems that it violates the Show, don't Tell rule, but for a good reason. Is there a name for this style?
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/34067. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
1 answer
"Show, don't tell" is a guideline - not a rule
There are no rules when writing fiction. There are tips and tricks for what works for most audiences and what does not work for most audiences. But ultimately everything is up to you and when you decide that you don't want something - then simply don't do it. Don't like short sentences? Write long ones and longer ones and even longer ones and combine them with a repetitive "and" and an "or" or maybe two "and"'s and another "or". Don't like to "Show"? Then go ahead and "Tell".
It depends on your goal and your audience - and if you want to publish it, it may very well depend on your publisher.
I don't think your example is "Telling" rather than "Showing"
The excerpt you showed us isn't simply telling me:
Persia was ruled by the descendants of Sefi. These descendants were often cruel and would regularly kill their attendants.
Instead it's showing me how cruel these people were by illustrating how they stained all of their interieur with the blood of those who were close to them. It shows how people had a somewhat dark humorous saying about someone who would be extremely careful because of the ever-present danger that the sultan was presenting.
You can show through actions and the behaviour of normal people having a saying of this careful young nobleman and his apparent behaviour when he was near the sultan is a perfect illustration for that. There is no need to hide any information in dialogue, but the author clearly created a general personality of the people that he is showing the reader.
Your example displays signs of showing, too. You could have said that there were hunters. But you characterized them as prideful, said that they were white-clothed, which shows how they are hunting in the white grass and you showed that they are regularly fighting with each other. There would be no need to mention that they regularly warred with each other. Only to tell the reader about the specific wars that might be relevant - and to tell them you would need dates and numbers showing casualties and territory lost in greater detail. Furthermore you are showing the reader how he behaved and how this is different from other rulers - he is amicable after all and there is a reason for this character trait - instead of telling the reader he was nice.
This style reminds me a bit of older fairytales. The characters might not have a lot of dialogue, but the narrator is showing the reader all the important stuff.
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