I thought I’d drop back into writing again today, just for a change. LOL. I’ll pick up where one of the comments pointed me after my blog about the use of dialogue. The pithy subject of Show not Tell.
I am so not, going to try and show you how to show and not tell, rather comment on its vital importance. Go on deconstruct that sentence with a straight face – I dare you. LOL
In fact, I’m not so sure you can really teach someone who doesn’t “get it” that they need to show the reader the story, not tell them it. If you go to a writers group on a regular basis, I can almost guarantee there will be one person there who takes a really good idea and then botches it as a piece of writing by telling the story. At least one. Most will gradually come to the realisation exactly what Show not Tell means, but there’s always the stubborn case who knows better than the rest of the world. “I write the way I want to and you can’t stop me.” “I’m happy with what I do.”
Actually, they are very valid statements and it depends on what you want from your writing. If you want to win competitions or become a published author you MUST NOT take that attitude. If when I read your manuscript I fell you are telling me the story rather than showing it to me – I WILL PUT IT ON THE REJECT PILE – irrespective of the quality of the story itself. So will 99.5% of my peers, however big or small the publisher is.
I said 99.5% rather than 100% because you never know there may be a maverick out there, or even someone totally desperate to fill the remaining slot in their timetable. Personally I wouldn’t want to rely on that kind of chance.
Write what you want, how you want, by all means but don’t expect the publishing world to accept it just because you, a relatively unknown, wrote it, just because your friends and family say it’s good enough to be published. Quite often they are simply being nice to you. Believe me, when you submit a story to a publisher they will not be quite so nice, in fact they most likely won’t be nice at all. The problem for you is, most of them will be so NOT NICE, they won’t even reply or simply say NO with no explanation, and you won’t know why.
Just remember, many publishers are inundated with sub-standard manuscripts, and don’t have the time to be nice and tell you what’s wrong. Some do, but a publisher is in business to make money out of the winners, not spend time on the non-starters.
Show your reader the story, don’t tell them it. Dialogue is still one of the most effective techniques to do this – so get your characters talking.
Well, we can write what we want to write but publishers contract what they want to contract because readers read what they want as well. It all boils down to who gives the best escapism and "telling" never does. It's passive and distant. "Showing" drags the reader kicking into the story and holds them there. That's what it's all about.
ReplyDeleteAnd never take family and friends' opinion on your work. They are obligated to like to it but how many of them are in the publishing business?
Too true Deborah. Too true.
ReplyDelete