Voice and "Show don't Tell"
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I've been wondering about this for a long time. So people say I now write in my own voice--my voice, and that my writing is better than when I've try to be a Charles Dickens or Ernest Hemingway or Cervantes (yuck!). Here's my question (and I'm happy for an honest debate): does writing in your own voice improves how you use the technique "Show don't tell," or are they linked in any way. I've been dying to know since I can show better rather than tell, so I just wanted your takes on it.
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I think writing in your own voice makes your writing a lot better in general, not just in this area. When
you aren't conforming to a prescribed formula you can express yourself better - and if in your voice you're
better at showing than telling, good for you!
Of course, telling has it's place - I tend to show so much through dialogue, that sometimes I think my
novel reads more like a screenplay! ;) It's something I have to work on.
Happy writing! ;) | zion613 [323] | 05/06/2009 |
Writing in your voice helps your writing in general, huh... I can see where you're going. I know now when
writing with your voice your piece tends to flow more, it tends to become more exciting, and it tends
to show emotion.
If you read Ride to Illogical World (now theres a revised article called Betting World), it sounded boring
if not unemotional. I used every sentence pattern I knew in the book into my writing. I used obscure words
and even inversions (trying to sound like a Charles Dickens in some places. Yuck!). I told rather than
tell, but the previous three problems just killed my writing. In other words, I wasn't being myself. "Just
be yourself," mom would say, "and you'll find your audience." Can't be something to everybody,
and I realized that now. I'll let you decide which one is better if you want to read them.
If you read my other pieces Writing Exercise on Scene and Something I was Writing (just little exercises),
you could see I was imitating someone else. It wasn't me you could hear.
Well, thanks for the tidbit. | DeUndrae [144] | 05/06/2009 |
Hi DeUndrae,
I'm not sure if "writing in your own voice" and "Show, don't tell" are linked in any
way. To understand 'show-don't-tell', just click on the link below.
However, since we're on the subject, there are things in writing that cannot be "shown" and one of them
is motivation. It must be told. Another is description. In fact, most things must be told. The advice
"show don't tell" is applicable in only certain tense situations or dramatic scenes, to add action and
suspense. IMO, mostly, it would be "tell don't show".
When I'm using a POV character, I usually tell the reader the character's purpose and what he was doing
(even when the scene dictates he dove into something he himself wouldn't know what the outcome would be)
as soon as he knew it himself. I would feel the reader would get impatient and would lose interest because
I did not share the necessary information they needed to see the whole picture, especially in fictional
stories. I know, sometimes it is rather nice for them to "discover" by watching the character in action
but it may require tons of words and characterizations that would make my novel too long. The trick is
to find the right balance between "showing" and "telling".
Here's what wikipedia says about "Show, and tell", go to this link >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Show,_don't_tell | Grampa Pogi [512] | 16/07/2009 |
Well, it varies...I guess, that depends upon the writer himself...
On my part, I have often written with my own voice so as to express myself in my anthologies...
^_^ | Shakespril [134] | 16/03/2010 |
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