tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post6516786709860405150..comments2024-03-20T02:26:46.482-04:00Comments on Joanna Bourne: Technical Topic -- Just a minithought on Show and TellJo Bournehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457862962618886252noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-9218490643099220972011-12-11T14:10:25.105-05:002011-12-11T14:10:25.105-05:00Hi Barbara --
*g* Help yerself. The ideas are h...Hi Barbara --<br /><br />*g* Help yerself. The ideas are hardly original to me. <br /><br />I don't read a lot of manuals on writing, though I should, but I'm pretty sure they all cover this stuff.Jo Bournehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13457862962618886252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-24958556574694966202011-12-11T14:08:58.289-05:002011-12-11T14:08:58.289-05:00Hi Catherine --
I'm glad this was of some use...Hi Catherine --<br /><br />I'm glad this was of some use. <br /><br />One aspect of 'Showing' versus 'Telling' is that 'showing', or being right there in the now moment helps to keep us deep in POV. Always useful.Jo Bournehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13457862962618886252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-18961445294800951152011-12-11T09:06:46.802-05:002011-12-11T09:06:46.802-05:00Jo, first class post on staying in the moment. Str...Jo, first class post on staying in the moment. Strangely enough, I think it applies to life as well. Anyway, I may have to steal, er, borrow some bits of this. You'd make a great teacher.<br /><br />Barbara R.Barbara Roganhttp://www.barbararogan.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-61505963603750654962011-12-10T14:03:38.449-05:002011-12-10T14:03:38.449-05:00Great post, really helps explain something I wasn&...Great post, really helps explain something I wasn't sure about either. Thanks.Lily Byrnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07772745430401290468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-90164237151612790872011-12-05T17:53:53.291-05:002011-12-05T17:53:53.291-05:00"Your example from Black Hawk strikes me as m..."Your example from Black Hawk strikes me as maybe the exception that proves the rule." <br /><br />Exactly yes. The exceptions to the 'Stay on Target', 'Stay on Target' are always interesting.<br /><br />When we just plain need to convey information, we maybe reluctantly decide to go with Talking Heads. We gird our loins -- probably we go into private to do that -- and we bring our characters on stage and turn 'em loose to tell each other what we want the reader to know.<br /><br />I talk about this Talking Heads process here:<br /><br />http://jobourne.blogspot.com/2008/12/technical-topics-talking-heads.html<br /><br />and here:<br /><br />http://jobourne.blogspot.com/2008/12/technical-topics-talking-heads-ii.html<br /><br />in my lengthy and discursive way.<br /><br />In the Pax + Adrian scene, have we moved that backstory into the Here&Now by tying it to some Story Action? <br /><br />I hope so, a little bit. <br /><br />The characters are Talking-Head-ing . . . but I hope the reader sees this in the context of the current story. The -- 'What is Adrian Going To Do Now?' 'How Does Justine React to Adrian's Emotional Response?' <br /><br />And, what Betty points out. If we must pause to fold in backstory, we can make it shine a light on our characters.<br /><br />There are several reasons to sloooow down pacing. One of them is -- we want to look at the characters for a while.Jo Bournehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13457862962618886252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-60886786162362773392011-12-05T14:14:22.047-05:002011-12-05T14:14:22.047-05:00What Betty said. I've read that scene several ...What Betty said. I've read that scene several times.Anniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00480968583416513772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-78215464507007710412011-12-05T10:59:52.399-05:002011-12-05T10:59:52.399-05:00Jo ~
Ah! I relished that "talking heads"...Jo ~<br /><br />Ah! I relished that "talking heads" scene between Adrian and Pax. Pax became a real person not just someone conveniently lurking around the sidelines and bopping people on the head when needed. That's what good backstory does, to my mind, it develops characters. We don't notice the infodump so much then.<br /><br />In my story, the backstory is basically about the MC, but it is told by another character. Consequently, we learn more about the character telling the story. That was needed, too.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00456043288874000191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-85540370531783388682011-12-05T10:26:05.118-05:002011-12-05T10:26:05.118-05:00Hi Jo,
I also like this reframing of the show/tel...Hi Jo,<br /><br />I also like this reframing of the show/tell distinction that creative writing manuals rant about. Your example from Black Hawk strikes me as maybe the exception that proves the rule. Even though Pax and Adrian have gone elsewhere, it's an elsewhere that was not only here and now in the same novel but here and now between the same two characters. It’s different at least in degree from the classic one where the heroine has a long conversation with the hero's best friend in which she learns about the hero's traumatic experiences on the battlefield. I also like how it plays with the “better the devil you know” axiom when it comes to how Adrian and Pax enter the service. I don’t think that would have the same resonance without the “talking heads” scene.Anniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00480968583416513772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-1757172940216873642011-12-05T10:22:48.015-05:002011-12-05T10:22:48.015-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00480968583416513772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-66607190481954473352011-12-04T21:22:16.177-05:002011-12-04T21:22:16.177-05:00Hi Betty -- I don't envy the task of feeding ...Hi Betty -- I don't envy the task of feeding in backstory. That is technically difficult, no matter how you slice it and dice it. <br /><br />In Black Hawk, fr'instance, I found myself with a lot of backstory about Pax I wanted to add quickly. So I had Adrian and Pax stand there and say stuff to each other. <br /><br />The dreaded Talking Heads.<br /><br />What can we do?Jo Bournehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13457862962618886252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-55581292542285456722011-12-04T21:12:01.877-05:002011-12-04T21:12:01.877-05:00Hi Susan --
And different ways of explaining the ...Hi Susan --<br /><br />And different ways of explaining the same thing show us there are different ways of seeing it. Or perhaps different aspects of the subject. The 'show don't tell' is related to depth of POV. I think. <br /><br />Sometimes, when we 'tell', we find ourselves easing out of Deep POV.Jo Bournehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13457862962618886252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-9378013112331708122011-12-04T19:10:13.532-05:002011-12-04T19:10:13.532-05:00Thank you!
I much prefer the H & N. It keeps ...Thank you!<br /><br />I much prefer the H & N. It keeps the story tight and moving. That said, yesterday I finished the E I had been dreading. It was backstory that HAD to be said to make the story make sense. It was something the MC didn't know, but others did. <br /><br />It's hard not to make this sort of scene just talking heads.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00456043288874000191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-47033122580151451472011-12-04T16:58:34.567-05:002011-12-04T16:58:34.567-05:00What a clear and concise way of explaining "s...What a clear and concise way of explaining "show, not tell." <br /><br />The best teacher I ever had used to explain things at least three different ways to his class. If I didn't get it the first time, I was sure to get it by the time he was finished with the day's lecture.<br /><br />I liked your way of explaining something I've heard countless times. <br /><br />SusanSusan Montgomeryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03194055286314636481noreply@blogger.com