(no subject)

[beccaelizabeth]

If I made a 'show not tell' icon
and used it for comments that were otherwise not mentioning it
would that be subtle?

because some days I run into a whole lot of stories that make me want to poke them with the show-not-tell stick until they turn into actual stories instead of summaries.

(And other days I write them. first draft. well, 0th draft, because I know I'm going to do that so I rewrite it right away.)

Comments

[julia-here.livejournal.com]

Argh. You and me both.

"Excuse me, this is a synopsis for what might be worked into a good story; maybe you should write it some day?"

Of course sometimes the synopsis is longer than a real piece of writing, using the same material, might be; Secondverse mentioned her "Seven Languages" today in a sort of depricating way, but what I love about that story is its completeness and concision. Cogency, that's the word.

There is a place for telling-not-showing, but it's a small place, when showing one detail might imbalance the story, but for the most part, showing is the better choice.

Julia, taking a break from pounding nails.

[julia-here.livejournal.com]

deprecating

Bah. It's those evil schwas again.

JE

[sparklebutch.livejournal.com]

*is worried about own fic having that problem*