it's a great life, if you don't weaken (matociquala) wrote,
it's a great life, if you don't weaken
matociquala
  • Mood: working
  • Music: Indigo Girls - Second Time Around (Radio Paradise - DJ-mixed modern & classic rock, electronica, wor

anyone can die here. they do it every day.

You know how we writer-types talk about show vs. tell, and how sometimes it's obvious, as when a long passage is narrated rather than demonstrated? (And there are valid reasons to do this--sometimes it's the most efficient way to move a story, or get a point across... and sometimes you just have to grit your teeth and exposit)

Well, it's not just that. There's also the difference between showing and telling in the course of the narrative itself, on a sentence by sentence level. Showing engages the senses, brings in the telling details, immerses the reader in the experience of the story. Telling is just that.

An example: one of these sentences is shown, the other told. Which is which?

The stark light of the torches moved terrible shadows across Kari's cheeks and forehead as his head bobbed once.

versus

Kari nodded.
Tags: iskryne, writing craft wank
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