>Show, don't tellThis man singlehandedly caused more harm to literary fiction than anybody either before or after him. Dostoevsky was very explicitly judgemental in his narration in his novel, as was Charles Dickens (the famous opening lines of A Tale of Two Cities: "It was the best of the times. It was the worst of the times..." are a great example of Show AND Tell). Virgil, who explicitly designated the Greek hero Odysseus as "dirus Ulixes" (deceitful Ulysses), abided by no rules other than making his poetry pretty-sounding.Most great modern fiction, like the works of Virginia Woolf, Osamu Dazai, and Fernando Pessoa, is rife with descriptions of personal sentiments delivered directly by the narrator.It is only scriptwriters and people who expect their books to be adapted into screenplays who can afford the luxury of never having to tell anything and only "report" dialogue and a few objective facts about the environment.
there is a bit of telling anyway when you show something. but it's good advice because in current year a lot of people absolutely need to reveal the biographical details constantly
Showing is important because if you tell the reader something then it's always going to be true. When you show them something it makes the matter more urgent and ephemeral.
It was the best of times, it was the BLURST of times?!
>>25340328>descriptions of personal sentiments delivered directly by the narrator. It is only scriptwriters and people who expect their books to be adapted into screenplays who can afford the luxury of never having to tell anything and only "report" dialogue and a few objective facts about the environment.Good thing Hemingway didn't do this. His attitude is stoic but emotions take the centre stage in all his novels. They are just strongly suggested instead of explicitly written.
>>25340328Enigma is overrated.OP is write: Show & Tell
>>25340344perhaps zoomers don't have patience for context & subtext these days?I mean we all barely have patience for exposition left generationally.they are a meme generation that expects contend delivered to them memetically compressed (not in boomer longform).
>>25340403that doesn't really explain the quarter day long video essays (insert dfw/timberlake tv drug meme)context and subtext are heavily dependent on, you know, things being actually discussed. and in 2026 the thing you care about isn't what other people care about, likely
>>25340385In comparison to most 19th century fiction writers, who feel like the literary equivalent of a full-blown 6-course dinner at a French restaurant with a chef who's strictly devoted to the methods and recipes of cuisine classique, Hemingway's novels like The Sun Also Rises feel like the literary equivalent of a piece of toast with a dollop of ketchup and some black pepper on top.Sure, they got "flavor", but it just doesn't feel ornate or rich. It feels like something that a guy at 3AM coulda done as a hangover snack while being fully aware he was gonna have to vomit it all up the next morning.It's like sex without cumming inside.It's like posting on 4chan but not being allowed to say the n-word.
>>25340404I get the feeling that the kinds of Zoomers who are into reading books nowadays are the ones who can also stand going through 5-hour long gooning sessions, or who do shit like playing MMOs for 9 hours a day or watching v-tuber streams as if it were a full-time job.The ones who don't have the patience to CONSOOM content for ridiculously long amounts of time are the ones who don't even read online news or magazine articles, much less prose fiction.
>>25340408>magazine articlesI have a feeling periodicals will go extinct with the Millennials (if not Gen Xers).Anywho, there was a huge cognitive transfer generationally from prefrontal cortex work with interpreting books, to limbic system hyperstimulation with modern brain rotting online services.There is something there; the zoomers have a rainman autistic ability that the other gens don't have (haven't put my finger on it yet though...)
It only caused harm because some retards took it as a rule rather than a suggestion.
>>25340406nigger detected
>>25340328The advice is meant for people who don't suffer from severe debilitating intellectual disabilities, and therefore are able to understand when to apply it. It's not meant for you, OP.
show dont tell only works if you are writing a script for a movie or play.some of the best writers of all time tell all the timeits bad advice when writing a novel
>>25340328>>25340406Retard
>>25340468Yeah. I think the advice exists to encourage people to write> His eyes bulged and veins swelled dangerously at his temple as his face flushed red. His words became more spittle than sound.instead of> He was angryIt's just a bit of helpful advice to get your word count high enough to have everyone consider your work a serious novel and not a short story to pass over.
>>25340632>he was angryReads better than all of that other stuff
