1 Topic by Dirk B. (edited by Dirk B. 2019-07-07 22:50:19)

Topic: Is this "telling"? - Writing Craft

I have a character named Connor who is travelling through the Holy Land and reports seeing and hearing Christ at various traditional locations where the events of the Gospels are believed to have taken place (e.g. Bethlehem, Nazareth, Capernaum, Jerusalem, etc.). In order to maintain the mystery of what Connor experiences until the end of book one, he is not one of the POV characters. A priest who travels with him is the POV character. Connor relates through dialogue everything that he sees and hears, and I can get as detailed as I want about that. However, doesn't the summary through dialogue of his experiences make it all "telling" rather than "showing"?

Thanks.
Dirk

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2 Reply by Charles_F_Bell (edited by Charles_F_Bell 2018-10-14 14:48:20)

Re: Is this "telling"? - Writing Craft

Dirk B. wrote:

However, doesn't the summary through dialogue of his experiences make it all "telling" rather than "showing"?

No.  However, it can be done clumsily like often in TV shows, very much like it is the author with an agenda rather than telling a story.  Telling a story is perfectly permissible when the author is telling a story. The show/tell distinction is over-rated except in post-modernist POV, usually first-person, literature.

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Re: Is this "telling"? - Writing Craft

A written story is all "telling" with some aspects being promoted as "showing." No matter how you say it, you are "telling" a story. You may "tell" it with dialogue or narration, but they are both "telling" the story. Someone might say you should "show" the anger by having a person slam their fist on a table or such, but that is still "telling" the story in different words. You are simply telling the reader they slammed their fist on a table rather telling them they were angry. Still "telling" the story.

The dialogue might "tell" the story in what might be perceived as a more "showy" way of "telling" and some narration might offer a more "showy" prose form of "telling" but there is simply no way of telling a story on paper which is not "telling" the story. If you wish to "show" a story, then some form of video would be the best bet. Just "showing" my opinion. Take care. Vern

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