Consistency looks like a circle...
Feb. 17th, 2006 09:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
khiemtranInspired by a thread on rasfc...
I think it's important if you're trying to get the reader to absorb a lot of new things, that you give them a chance to test out their new knowledge. It's one thing to be able to infer something, it's another thing to have your suspicions confirmed. As the proverb goes, "Hear, and I forget. See, and I remember. Do, and I understand." In terms of helping the reader absorb a new information, showing is better than telling, but actually using that information is better still.
Ideally, the information will be reflected back naturally in sorts of a ways. How does it affect the setting? How does it affect the characters? How does it affect he story? (And if it doesn't affect any of these, is it any wonder that the reader is not soaking it in?)
I think it's important if you're trying to get the reader to absorb a lot of new things, that you give them a chance to test out their new knowledge. It's one thing to be able to infer something, it's another thing to have your suspicions confirmed. As the proverb goes, "Hear, and I forget. See, and I remember. Do, and I understand." In terms of helping the reader absorb a new information, showing is better than telling, but actually using that information is better still.
Ideally, the information will be reflected back naturally in sorts of a ways. How does it affect the setting? How does it affect the characters? How does it affect he story? (And if it doesn't affect any of these, is it any wonder that the reader is not soaking it in?)
