| Nick's Weekly Tip | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jan 10 2012, 11:59 AM (48 Views) | |
| nickuskoski | Jan 10 2012, 11:59 AM Post #1 |
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Here I'll be posting my own weekly writing tips and techniques for anyone who wants to read them. Throughout the years I've gone through quite a lot of writing classes and read articles and have about enough books in my bookshelves on the stuff to fill an entire row so I like to pass that along to those who don't have that! |
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| nickuskoski | Jan 10 2012, 12:38 PM Post #2 |
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For this week the tip is on one of the first rules of fiction writing which is "Show Don't Tell." This is the most vague, worst described rule ever created but if you understand it it gets the job done (sort of). What it means is that instead of listing descriptions of every action and attribute of a thing or character or whatever you instead reveal those characteristics and actions through different means, such as similes and metaphors. Instead of saying the "house looked old" you can write "The moldy, wooden fortress, long weathered by age, stood in solitude at the end of the street." While it isn't explicitly mentioned that the house looked old you can tell what it is by the other things about it described. This rule can extend into actions and behaviors as well. "I ran to the cat. The cat looked at me. I picked the cat up." can become "I passed a fluffy ball of cat on my way and couldn't resist its rounded eyes. As I carried it around...." I have skipped the cat looking by replacing it with the way the character feels and have shifted I picked it up into a later action of when it is being carried, which means by default it must have been picked up. People should be able to figure out points of logic so long as you don't make a large leap. Saying "I saw a cat as I ran. Later as I was carrying it..." is a bit of a stretch because , while we might assume the cat was picked up, we don't know why it was picked up or what purpose there is to it and it feels like there is a large gap in action. Show, Don't Tell is a great way to bulk up your sentences and paragraphs. Lots of early work looks somewhat empty and short but a lot of it can be rewritten to look longer and more well written, like the house. It is also a good way to cut down on excess stuff, like the list of actions, so that you can clean up some repetition or blocky sentences and make things more efficient. Be careful though! You have to use Show Don't Tell in a way that still gives a clear image. Obscure metaphors and running off on tangents can make things quite confusing, even though you followed the rule. You also have to remember that it is still ok to put down "The house looked old." here and there because sometimes simplicity is best at points and because it is a quick, easy way to make a clear point. Remember that rules in writing are not definitive. They can be broken and stretched and pulled all the time. They are more like the guidelines to better writing and you'll find every writer has a different level of cler description and "show" description. |
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