tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703135896090475473.post8801913801349568735..comments2024-01-03T15:44:32.214+11:00Comments on Anthony J. Langford: Why Show vs. Tell is merely a fadAnthony J. Langfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02027216695415849158noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703135896090475473.post-88553372017745150992013-07-12T22:20:52.813+10:002013-07-12T22:20:52.813+10:00Hi Rhyl - that's so interesting as I've ne...Hi Rhyl - that's so interesting as I've never been there! Where did you find it? Perhaps someone who bought my book Bottomless River from last year left it there. otherwise, I'm stumped! Sounds nice though. Anthony J. Langfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02027216695415849158noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703135896090475473.post-49738776909610820592013-07-12T21:20:34.050+10:002013-07-12T21:20:34.050+10:00hey Anthony I found your card today at mimosa rock...hey Anthony I found your card today at mimosa rocks while exploring with my children on the most splendid of winter days. What a beautiful place hey? When were you there? I hope you derived some inspiration from this place. Like I told my kids its not only sacred for the blackfellas but for the whitefellas too. RhylAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703135896090475473.post-84596610378507935372013-04-27T19:51:34.964+10:002013-04-27T19:51:34.964+10:00Cheers Pat! That's a great comment. I hate rul...Cheers Pat! That's a great comment. I hate rules and as you point out, there are many all too willing to flaunt them when they've done so little themselves.<br />I also like Stephen King and yes I remember the reviewers going to town on him - snobbery is what it is. I believe a certain type of person is attracted to the publishing world and they're more than often conservative. God knows how Stephen King ever made it. Actually he almost didn't, only thanks to his persistent (and that of his wife - famously rescuing Carrie from the bin).. <br /><br />I don't remember those comments on Feral St. You've got a good memory! Maybe I'll go back and defend myself more vigorously! ha ha<br />Thanks again.Anthony J. Langfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02027216695415849158noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703135896090475473.post-53694015586020522312013-04-27T19:47:49.502+10:002013-04-27T19:47:49.502+10:00Dialouge is good - I like dialouge - it's an e...Dialouge is good - I like dialouge - it's an effective to reveal character. As for Oblivion, that's probably not a good way to start a film and not quite the type of telling that's effective in film - I just dont think you have to start with a car chase or something - I think Star Wars made such an impact all those years ago that studios have been emulating it ever since, often to effect but to the exclusion of other possibilities. Anthony J. Langfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02027216695415849158noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703135896090475473.post-72817469082648830782013-04-27T16:32:04.032+10:002013-04-27T16:32:04.032+10:00If you could hear this as I type it. It would come...If you could hear this as I type it. It would come to you as the sound of applause. I remember when many in the literary "establishment" hated and criticized everything Stephen King did (some still do). Obviously, the reading public did not agree with them. EVERY book the man has written became a best seller and even his short stories are made into movies. <br /><br />I can capsulize this in a quick minute. I HATE elitists! They only really feel superior when they are trying to belittle others. There are a ton of them. These days, every Tom, Dick and Harry is a frigging critic and expert. It doesn't matter if they've never published a single thing, besides a blog post. Everybody is an expert, but why don't they know that the most important thing, or maybe the ONLY important thing is to be able to engage the reader by writing a good story. Who cares if they start a sentence with a conjunction, confuse lie with lay, or break a million other so called rules? My granny was probably a functional illiterate, but when she started telling one of her stories, nobody said a word. They didn't say a word, because they didn't want to miss anything. <br /><br />I remember taking some offense to a few of the comments you got when you were doing the Feral Street series. If people don't like something, that's fine and they should stop reading, but instead, they tried to TELL you how to write it. I hated that.<br /><br />So much for "capsulizing!" Sorry about the rant...Pat Tilletthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17699973774273291205noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703135896090475473.post-75321118227633619602013-04-15T14:31:26.830+10:002013-04-15T14:31:26.830+10:00You're probably right about telling being an e...You're probably right about telling being an excuse for the slushpile reader to get rid of another manuscript. <br /><br />In the manuscript I am writing at the moment I probably have way too much show, much of that in the form of dialogue. But there is a reason for all the dialogue, I am attempting to show how the characters never say what they are thinking. But telling can be an effective way of summarising dialogue. <br /><br />And I agree, what works works. <br /><br />You would like the start of Oblivion when the main character spends five minutes telling us how the earth came to be what it is.<br />Graham Clementshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06430135062211828206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703135896090475473.post-73340867667919057942013-04-14T17:52:56.543+10:002013-04-14T17:52:56.543+10:00Thanks Graham - I think it depends on the situatio...Thanks Graham - I think it depends on the situation - you should be able to have the flexibility to do what you want. It's best to keep the story moving in any form, but there's nothing wrong with a character reflecting or beginning a chapter in 'tell' mode, especially the beginning of a book. There's too often an outright dismissal on behalf of publishers/agents who see it and use that as an excuse. To me it's just an excuse and nothing more.<br /><br />Look at films as an example of the current mindset. It must begin with a bang, big action sequence at the beginning etc. Not long ago, it was set up, focus on stories, characters etc - I think its simply insecurity, that if they don't grab the viewer or reader immediately, they will lose them. There's no faith anymore. No respect for the 'consumer.' <br /><br />After all, in real life, we tell stories to one another. People are still interested. You don't have to take them to the physical location or show them a video in order to engage them - they listen. It assumes that people are stupid/and or get bored. I think Show is best for action etc and should be used where possible, but it isn't always possible and the author should feel that they have the freedom to do what's best for their book, and not to please some number crunching suit, who think they know better. Anthony J. Langfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02027216695415849158noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703135896090475473.post-56496311493539781772013-04-14T12:34:13.032+10:002013-04-14T12:34:13.032+10:00Hi Anthony,
Only the other day I was reaching the...Hi Anthony,<br /><br />Only the other day I was reaching the end of a chapter I was writing, where I at first included a summary of what happened next, to try and increase the urgency of the situation, but I thought that would be all tell, better to show what happened. But then I thought, better still, leave the chapter hanging, and jump forward in time in the next chapter and, using a different character's POV, show the characters doing things which "tell" the reader what I had been going to tell them in the summary.<br /><br />I do find myself saying show don't tell in places where the scene will be hard to write. I think it's generally easier to tell what happened in a difficult scene than to show it happening. So as a writer I want to try and stretch myself by writing the scene and showing whenever possible.<br /><br />I am not arguing against your post, just pointing out that telling can be a cop out, and boring as hell too, for the beginner writer, like me anyway. <br /><br /> <br /><br />Graham Clementshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06430135062211828206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703135896090475473.post-58231833238971125732013-04-13T08:53:27.738+10:002013-04-13T08:53:27.738+10:00Thanks for your comments. Hi Graham - your post di...Thanks for your comments. Hi Graham - your post did prompt me to post this now - it was written end of last year but it seemed timely. During my submission journey I have been rejected on this rule a couple of times with my short stories and have come across agents and publishers who go on about it. Perhaps I should have mentioned those examples but there are some who swear by it. <br />Like Jon said, I wanted to let new writers know to trust their instincts. It's hard enough to write something big like a novel let alone try to get it published. Anthony J. Langfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02027216695415849158noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703135896090475473.post-86151065588031137322013-04-13T00:30:31.114+10:002013-04-13T00:30:31.114+10:00If you look at the "rules" of writing yo...If you look at the "rules" of writing you learn that they are guidelines only. Thanks for this post. So many writers need to hear over and over to trust themselves.You need to be true to you, then you will always succeed no matter what happens.<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18152826045159796899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703135896090475473.post-66945144342886154132013-04-12T19:47:41.193+10:002013-04-12T19:47:41.193+10:00I must start to take note now when a story is bein...I must start to take note now when a story is being told and not shown. I think Justin Cronin does a bit of telling when he is filling in the back story in his novels. The show not tell rule does have some relevance to new writers who might be tempted to write that the hero had a fight with the bad guy and won, instead of actually detailing the fight and showing us what happened. I have read The Slap and Freedom, both great books and never had any problem with how they were written. I will try to take note of show and tell in books I read from now on. Oh and I think my last post in my blog on submissions being rejected unread, might have had some input into this post. I hope I have not disheartened you too much. Keep trying Anthony, you are a very good writer. Graham Clementshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06430135062211828206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703135896090475473.post-8616768391102397532013-04-11T09:54:07.541+10:002013-04-11T09:54:07.541+10:00Many writers make their living from doing courses ...Many writers make their living from doing courses etc because there are so many wannabe writers - it's kind of incestuous lol. I certainly followed a lot of the rules in the beginning. Realisation was slow and painful.<br /><br />That was spam, now gone.Anthony J. Langfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02027216695415849158noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703135896090475473.post-88063218681631616992013-04-11T08:53:49.249+10:002013-04-11T08:53:49.249+10:00I applaud you for this post, Anthony. I am extreme...I applaud you for this post, Anthony. I am extremely averse to rules. It pains me that so many writers make good money by writing How-to books. I think those are the top selling books, right? People think if they follow a formula, they'll be richly rewarded. Meanwhile, some of us know things don't work that way. <br /><br />PS What language is that above? I see some Hebrew-like letters, but it's not Hebrew. Oh, I see "Ramillon" but I don't know what that is. =)<br />xoRobynRawknrobyn.blogspot.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15997241410192066577noreply@blogger.com