Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

Showing and Telling

In the most fundamental sense all a novelist has at their disposal are 26 Alpha Characters. (A-Z) These they arranged into words, sentences paragraphs, and chapters.

In the beginning there were story "Tellers." Our tribal ancestors sat around the
campfire and someone more lucid than the rest started spinning yarns. (Telling) These
story tellers had a big advantage over novelists because they had recourse to facial
expression, gestures, voice inflection and all those aids which the novelist doesn't
have at their disposal.

The invention of writing led to further innovations that did a better job at showing. For
example stage dramas (plays) and the silver screen were big into "Showing."

The unfortunate novelist however, remained tied to those damned Alpha Characters. Still the better writers found ways to tell their stories and show what was happening without
all the modern day enhancements. As a consequence the novel has remained a very popular
means of entertainment and leads to the development of most plays and movies.

A lot of things are happening in this world all at the same time. In its simplest form a
novelist "Shows and Tells" by unraveling, one thread at a time from the overall
context of life, and presenting it in a way that makes sense to the reader. Another name
for "telling" is Narrative Summary. Many great novels include plenty and they
don't seem any the worse for it.

I can't think of an "Operative Word" for "Showing" that "Narrative Summary" is for "Telling." I would choose a word like "Vicarious Summary" if I were into that sort of thing.

For Example:

Narrative Summary: Tells what happened. "Lisa followed the mysterious figure down a side street and into a dark alley.

Vicarious Summary: Shows what happenedLisa followed nervously, with mincing steps, down the side street, her high heels not suited to the cobblestones. Her heart pounded knowing where this impulsiveness might lead. The stranger turned into a dark alley. Here Lisa's fortitude seemed to evaporate. It was a dark service entrance, filled with dumpsters and the smell of decomposing garbage. Towards the end a door opened and a ray of light illuminated the darkness. The man stepped inside and the door closed.

I'm sure that most readers can see what a powerful tool "Showing" can be for the novelist. It enables a writer to invite the the reader into the Central Character's eyes and mind and see the thread to the story unfolding as it happens. This is opposed to hearing the events clinically

As I facilitate the Exploratory Writing Workshop, questions are raised and discussed that make great blog fodder. I'll be using my blog more to show and tell my readers what is going on in this interesting backwater of WDC.