Timeline for How to present details about the setting in a fantasy world without telling? [duplicate]
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
13 events
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| Apr 13, 2017 at 12:40 | history | edited | CommunityBot |
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| Jan 21, 2017 at 15:14 | vote | accept | Chaotic | ||
| Jan 19, 2017 at 13:09 | comment | added | Standback | @what : This is a perfectly reasonable use of "show, don't tell." In this case, OP is trying to avoid infodumping - i.e. telling the reader about the setting, instead of showing the reader how the setting is strange, different and interesting. It's always a challenge. | |
| Jan 19, 2017 at 13:06 | comment | added | Standback | Another duplicate with helpful info is: writers.stackexchange.com/questions/9505/… | |
| Jan 19, 2017 at 13:05 | history | closed |
user5645 Standback |
Duplicate of How to introduce a world that's alien to the reader, How to show that something is different than in real life? | |
| Jan 19, 2017 at 9:02 | review | Close votes | |||
| Jan 19, 2017 at 13:05 | |||||
| Jan 19, 2017 at 9:01 | comment | added | user5645 | "Show, don't tell" doesn't apply to writing with a lot of interiority, that is, writing that narrates the interior perspective of a character. A sentence like "I felt sad" is perfectly fine, although it is "telling", because going out of your way to show the interior effects of that emotion – effects for which we lack words – only to avoid that brief designation would just confuse the reader and stand in the way of your story. Also, there are genres in which telling is the expected standard. Another example, besides YA romance, are children's books. | |
| Jan 19, 2017 at 8:57 | comment | added | user5645 | Also, you misunderstand "show, don't tell". That 'rule' –which isn't one and doesn't hold true for all kinds of writing, e.g. not for YA romance – does not apply to the description of environments. What "show, don't tell" means is that you shouldn't tell the reader what a character feels ("John was sad."), but rather show the reader the effects of that emotion ("Tears rolled down John's face."). Much like in real life, where you cannot see what a person feels, but only see how they behave (facial expression, action) and must deduce the feeling from that observation. | |
| Jan 19, 2017 at 8:46 | comment | added | user5645 | See the first half of my answer to this duplicate question. | |
| Jan 18, 2017 at 18:35 | answer | added | Lew | timeline score: 2 | |
| Jan 18, 2017 at 18:24 | history | edited | Monica Cellio | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
edited title
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| Jan 18, 2017 at 16:51 | answer | added | Monica Cellio | timeline score: 5 | |
| Jan 18, 2017 at 16:35 | history | asked | Chaotic | CC BY-SA 3.0 |