Thoughts on "Show, Dont Tell" from a professional author

Sabruness

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Dont know if this would belong in Discussion/writing tips or here so i'm sticking it here. Tony or mods, feel free to shift this if you think it fits better there.

A lot of people here will mention "show, dont tell" quite often as a tip for writers seeking advice but very few if any actually elaborate on the limits of it and when it can actually be a bad thing.
While browsing twitter, i came across a thread from a professional author who elaborated on "show, dont tell", it's benefits and drawbacks as well as when "tell, dont show" can actually be a better option for writers. You'll need to click through to get the rest of the thread. It's quite insightful

 

K5Rakitan

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To me, it means to let people read between the lines. However, there are occasions when I had to spell things out for readers. For example, in my first draft, many people thought Marc was controlling when I was trying to portray him as supportive. I had to let the reader know that Joan appreciated him acting that way, because she had informed him of her preferences on their first date.
 

Sabruness

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However, there are occasions when I had to spell things out for readers.
That was actually one of the things they touched on, that sometimes you actually have to tell certain things to the reader so that they wont misunderstand something that's shown.
 

Snusmumriken

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Honestly, I feel like that is kind of given. It is similar to the "don't use the passive voice" rule. Should you avoid it for your main protagonist - most likely. Should you cut it out completely from your story - most likely not, as it serves a purpose by itself. And it is up to you to use it properly.

Same with the show and don't tell - I don't want to be told that MC friend is happy and trusts him with all his soul - it sounds shallow and fake. i want to see the actions - how they show their affection to prove they truly are happy and trusting.

But at the same time, you have to know when to skip unnecessary fluff that would make your story feel like it slows to a crawl. In these circumstances tell, don't show shines. For example when I need to describe something like a mundane morning or a repetitive action.
 

longer

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I personally find the twitter thread from that author to be great, or in internet terms "based."

The essence is striking a balance between showing and telling. New writers are generally given the advice "show don't tell" because most new writers have a tendency to literally tell you everything. Instead of slowing developing a world and characters with numerous scenes, they just hit the readers with a multipage infodump, at least that's a trend I notice. I may or may not be speaking from personal experience.

As for whether the audience will understand something, that's the fun part. Sometimes you want people to read between the lines and come up with different interpretations. Although the intended message is normally the most logical, sometimes writers transmit ideas completely by accident. And that's how you get literature teachers in the future to overanalyze something you did by complete accident.
 

PrincessFelicie

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Show and tell are both tools that a good writer should have in their toolbelt. But like you shouldn’t hammer in a screw, it’s a matter of knowing when to use which.
 

CupcakeNinja

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I believe instead of "show, don't tell." What people actually want to say is "don't infodump".
This is also my definition.

I hear that phrase so often I think people who say it just sound pretentious and stupid. Lists of stories dont even follow that rule and can still be enjoyed.

Japanese writers in particular are pretty threadbare in the "show" department but still manage to make a few truly good stories every now and then
 

Jamminrabbit

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"Show, don't tell."

Show: Masochistic femboy MC getting whipped and liking it because that's stimulating.

Don't tell: Femboy MC narrating in prose that he likes getting whipped because that's boring.
 

Saileri

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Show don't tell slogan is just another piece of comment coming from a certain type of readers like all the other ones, be it loving or hating any other part, feature, cliche, style or else :blob_sir: Just like "harems are trash" or "too many numbers in this litrpg".
 

Aoibh

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Tbh, its the reader than the author, tho the author is to have part of the blame. People are just spood fee too much info where they cant seem to appreciate the story as a whole because they start forgetting most of whats happening because of unnessearry information, but this is also shows what an expierence author is to a not so experienced author.

Most of the authors on this site are aiming their novels at teens and young adults
People get spooned fed so much that it seems author sans hasn't actually thought out a plot and its just used to hide that fact.
 

Discount_Blade

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Dont know if this would belong in Discussion/writing tips or here so i'm sticking it here. Tony or mods, feel free to shift this if you think it fits better there.

A lot of people here will mention "show, dont tell" quite often as a tip for writers seeking advice but very few if any actually elaborate on the limits of it and when it can actually be a bad thing.
While browsing twitter, i came across a thread from a professional author who elaborated on "show, dont tell", it's benefits and drawbacks as well as when "tell, dont show" can actually be a better option for writers. You'll need to click through to get the rest of the thread. It's quite insightful

I've always hated this line. It is by far the stupidest piece of writing advice I've ever heard...and yet it's the most common, and stubbornly persistent one of all.
 

AnnonBee

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Show, Don't tell, is a very good piece of advice. However, it doesn't align with the format of the web novel.
In the conventional novel, people had already paid for the novel so they try to devour everything in it.
However, nowadays people have very short attention spans, so they don't sit down to read the things between the lines. On top of that, when publishing in chapter format, it will be very hard to catch the attention, so they would come back later on.
I feel it is better to spoon-feed the important aspect and the hooks of the story to the reader. And when you try to foreshadow or express some strong emotions, you can use 'Show, Don't tell' aspect.
 

Jemini

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I've always hated this line. It is by far the stupidest piece of writing advice I've ever heard...and yet it's the most common, and stubbornly persistent one of all.

Actually, my thoughts are that any "rule of writing" that is held as dogma is stupid specifically BECAUSE it is held in such high regard.

My experience has been that the one and only rule in all of writing that is true 100% of the time is that absolutely ANYTHING can work with the correct execution.

Thing is, you have to figure out what that correct execution is. In order to figure out the correct execution, you need to develop a strong intuition for what will and what will not work, and under what conditions. In order to develop this intuition, you need to read A WHOLE FREAKING LOT of things written by other skilled authors and see examples of all the things done well.

Overall, the rules of writing that we get recited to us are other people's experience of what they have found to be the methods that require you to flex your creative muscles the least if you stay within those safe boundaries. You can break any and all of the expressed "rules of writing." It just means you are going to have to place a significantly larger burden on your writing skill to make things work without the safety net of you following that nice safe rule.

Of course, staying within the safe boundaries on everything makes for a very bland, formulaic, and uncreative work. In other words, boring as watching the grass grow. You absolutely need to take some risks and break at least a few of the rules in order to strain your creative muscles a bit if you want to really write something good.
 
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CupcakeNinja

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Actually, my thoughts are that any "rule of writing" that is held as dogma is stupid specifically BECAUSE it is held in such high regard.

My experience has been that the one and only rule in all of writing that is true 100% of the time is that absolutely ANYTHING can work with the correct execution.

Thing is, you have to figure out what that correct execution is. In order to figure out the correct execution, you need to develop a strong intuition for what will and what will not work, and under what conditions. In order to develop this intuition, you need to real A WHOLE FREAKING LOT of things written by other skilled authors and see examples of all the things done well.

Overall, the rules of writing that we get recited to us are other people's experience of what they have found to be the methods that require you to flex your creative muscles the least if you stay within those safe boundaries. You can break any and all of the expressed "rules of writing." It just means you are going to have to place a significantly larger burden on your writing skill to make things work without the safety net of you following that nice safe rule.

Of course, staying within the safe boundaries on everything makes for a very bland, formulaic, and uncreative work. In other words, boring as watching the grass grow. You absolutely need to take some risks and break at least a few of the rules in order to strain your creative muscles a bit if you want to really write something good.
This is true. Half my most well known story was basically just memes and people loved it.
 

Tearing_Sanctuary

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Well, for me, if I need to tell, just tell it. Not everything had to be "shown" and should not tell. Of course, such things as emotions commonly needs to be shown. But I think it's fine to just "Tell". I learned that from Neil Gaiman from Masterclass -- he didn't even know what Show, don't tell means lol (if I remembered it correctly he did say something along the lines of "whatever that means" referring to Show don't tell). In any case, writers can write whatever they're comfortable with.
 

Agentt

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I actually believe we need a balance between the two, cuz sometimes tell, not show can be badass!

Having myths associated, or having a few henchman sing your praises can hype the audience up.

Plus, wouldn't girls fawn over a guy who is good in studies, in sports, and is handsome, knows cooking, and even sewing? No need to show these, just have a side character tell it
 

DubstheDuke

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I mean I've given this a good chunk of thought, here is what I get from it.

Actions speak louder than words. This must is obvious, and should be implemented in writing when you're really trying to have some sort of impact. However, that isn't to say that you shouldn't describe things explicitly. Only that it's good practice to use actions and events to show people's emotions.

I personally like to use a combination of the two. It really depends on how I want to pace things. And as the guy said, if something is really important, then I will probably want to spend more time on it. If I want to spend more time on it, I want to draw it out a bit with a mix of action and dialogue.
 
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