
16.33: Tell, Don’t Show
08/15/21 • 18 min
3 Listeners
Your Hosts: DongWon Song, Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler Few pieces of writing advice get repeated as much as that old saw "show, don't tell." We're here to show tell you that it's not only not universally applicable, much of the time it's wrong1. Tell, don't show, especially in the early pages of the book when so very, very much information needs to be delivered2 quickly. Credits: This episode was recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson 1 Fun fact: this advice comes to us from silent film, when it made great artistic sense to put things on screen rather than on title cards. 2 If you need new terminology, Dan uses "demonstration vs. description."
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Your Hosts: DongWon Song, Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler Few pieces of writing advice get repeated as much as that old saw "show, don't tell." We're here to show tell you that it's not only not universally applicable, much of the time it's wrong1. Tell, don't show, especially in the early pages of the book when so very, very much information needs to be delivered2 quickly. Credits: This episode was recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson 1 Fun fact: this advice comes to us from silent film, when it made great artistic sense to put things on screen rather than on title cards. 2 If you need new terminology, Dan uses "demonstration vs. description."
Our Sponsors:
* Visit kinsta.com to get your first month free when you sign up today!
Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-content
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Previous Episode

16.32: First Page Fundamentals—THE KILLING FLOOR, by Lee Childs
Your Hosts: DongWon Song, Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler In this episode we explore the first page of The Killing Floor, by Lee Childs, with the goal of learning how to build good first pages for own own work. Credits: This episode was recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson Liner Notes: here is the 1st paragraph of The Killing Floor, for reference. I was arrested in Eno's diner. At twelve o'clock. I was eating eggs and drinking coffee. A late breakfast, not lunch. I was wet and tired after a long walk in heavy rain. All the way from the highway to the edge of town. The diner was small, but bright and clean. Brand-new, built to resemble a converted railroad car. Narrow, with a long lunch counter on one side and a kitchen bumped out back. Booths lining the opposite wall. A doorway where the center booth would be. I was in a booth, at a window, reading somebody’s abandoned newspaper about the campaign for a president I didn’t vote for last time and wasn’t going to vote for this time. Outside, the rain had stopped but the glass was still pebbled with bright drops. I saw the police cruisers pull into the gravel lot. They were moving fast and crunched to a stop. Light bars flashing and popping. Red and blue light in the raindrops on my window. Doors burst open, policemen jumped out. Two from each car, weapons ready. Two revolvers, two shotguns. This was heavy stuff. One revolver and one shotgun ran to the back. One of each rushed the door.
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Next Episode

16.34: Novels Are Layer Cakes
Your Hosts: DongWon Song, Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler Novels deliver a lot of information, and it's helpful to consider that delivery in terms of layers. Novels are layer cakes, and we're not talking about a three-layer birthday cake. We're talking about a dobosh torte, or a mille crepe cake. And if we've made you hungry for stratified pastry, that's okay, because we made ourselves hungry, too. Credits: This episode was recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson
Our Sponsors:
* Visit kinsta.com to get your first month free when you sign up today!
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Writing Excuses - 16.33: Tell, Don’t Show
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