inkdust: (Default)
Alys ([personal profile] inkdust) wrote in [community profile] go_write 2016-08-07 05:44 pm (UTC)

I think I see summary vs real-time action as more a question of pacing than show/tell. And priority - which actions are actually just stage dressing or (a common problem for me) play-by-play bits that honestly don't need to be mentioned at all. For me, show/tell awareness comes up most often in two ways - first, in description, where I make an effort to describe settings and situations via sentences where the character is interacting with them in some way and minimize "[noun] was [adjective]." Second, when it comes to character feelings, where I usually try to avoid emotion words and attempt to convey with body language/imagery/syntax instead (with mixed success). That's where I think a lot of critique of -ly adverbs shows up - "he said angrily" and "she shook her head sadly" - when that tone and feeling could come through more organically with action and dialogue choice.
I think those are the areas I notice with show/tell because those are the ones that tend to throw me off when I see them done poorly. I'm less bothered by straightforward action sentences than by a scene that feels wooden because the emotion or story mood was labeled for me instead of grown.

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