Showing vs Telling Revisited...
Sep. 20th, 2005 06:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
khiemtranI haven't been writing much, but I've learnt some more about Showing and Telling lately.
One thing I've found is that Telling is much easier to get right in a hurry. If I do a first draft in Telling and a first Draft in Showing, the Telling version will often seem much more expressive at first. I've learnt that it's dangerous to compare the two methods this early though. If I'm patient enough, and prepared to work at it, the Showing version will often end up much better in the long run. Showing is hard, but worth it
I've found that my ability for showing character has improved. There were things that I thought I wouldn't be able to show, that I ended up being able to. Although there are still some scenes where I can show the characters as I won't them, but I can't quite fit the showing seamlessly into the story. I'm more confident now, though, that it's just a matter of practice and patience.
I've also found that Telling can be a crutch. It can mask a lot of sloppy story building. There were at least two scenes that didn't work at all when changed from Telling to Showing -- the characters' actions and decisions suddenly became implausible. Trying to show them opened up a whole new perspective for me, and gave me some much more satisfying story outcomes.
One thing I've found is that Telling is much easier to get right in a hurry. If I do a first draft in Telling and a first Draft in Showing, the Telling version will often seem much more expressive at first. I've learnt that it's dangerous to compare the two methods this early though. If I'm patient enough, and prepared to work at it, the Showing version will often end up much better in the long run. Showing is hard, but worth it
I've found that my ability for showing character has improved. There were things that I thought I wouldn't be able to show, that I ended up being able to. Although there are still some scenes where I can show the characters as I won't them, but I can't quite fit the showing seamlessly into the story. I'm more confident now, though, that it's just a matter of practice and patience.
I've also found that Telling can be a crutch. It can mask a lot of sloppy story building. There were at least two scenes that didn't work at all when changed from Telling to Showing -- the characters' actions and decisions suddenly became implausible. Trying to show them opened up a whole new perspective for me, and gave me some much more satisfying story outcomes.
