Show, don't tell, is a technique of writing which lets the reader experience a story through action, thoughts, senses, and feelings rather than through exposition, summarization, and description.
During my adolescent years, one of my favorite authors was William Sydney Porter, who went by the pen name O'Henry. I loved his almost rather expert show, don't tell style of writing.
For example, my all-time favorite O'Henry sentence occurs when his main protagonist, Jeff Peters, introduces his friend, Andy Tucker, by way of the man's singular character trait:
"Whenever he saw a dollar in another man's hand he took it as a personal grudge, if he couldn't get it any other way." The Octopus Marooned.
In another example of Show, don't tell, Anton Chekhov writes, "Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass."
And, in The Long Goodbye, Raymond Chandler illustrates the utter boredom of Philip Marlowe thusly: "Mostly I was killing time," he said, "and it died hard."
This technique is elemental to much of my poetry, especially when my aim is to envelop the reader in the ambiance of a piece, and serves as a handy short cut approach to the reader's imagination.
There it is: show, don't tell.
On a side note ... FREE DAY ... FREE DAY ... on August 18th and 19th my eBook, Echoes, Neo-Victorian Poetry, will be free for download on Amazon.com. Enjoy!!!
Image: http://www.chartvalley.com
During my adolescent years, one of my favorite authors was William Sydney Porter, who went by the pen name O'Henry. I loved his almost rather expert show, don't tell style of writing.
For example, my all-time favorite O'Henry sentence occurs when his main protagonist, Jeff Peters, introduces his friend, Andy Tucker, by way of the man's singular character trait:
"Whenever he saw a dollar in another man's hand he took it as a personal grudge, if he couldn't get it any other way." The Octopus Marooned.
In another example of Show, don't tell, Anton Chekhov writes, "Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass."
And, in The Long Goodbye, Raymond Chandler illustrates the utter boredom of Philip Marlowe thusly: "Mostly I was killing time," he said, "and it died hard."
This technique is elemental to much of my poetry, especially when my aim is to envelop the reader in the ambiance of a piece, and serves as a handy short cut approach to the reader's imagination.
There it is: show, don't tell.
On a side note ... FREE DAY ... FREE DAY ... on August 18th and 19th my eBook, Echoes, Neo-Victorian Poetry, will be free for download on Amazon.com. Enjoy!!!
Image: http://www.chartvalley.com
RSS Feed