Show, don’t tell. Show, don’t tell. That’s the mantra that most writers write by. The Reader wants to feel like he or she is in the story. The Reader wants to be an invisible voyeur, but still have intimate relationships with the characters.
What I’m wondering is, can I write a story that tells instead of showing, and still end up with something people want to read?
That’s what I was trying to do when I wrote Francis Rhododendron and Humanity’s Great Return to the Sea. I didn’t want to use embellished prose. I didn’t want to go out of my way to try to “insert” the reader into the action. I wanted to say what was happening, and why. I wanted to zoom out a bit and just observe, maybe with a sarcastic or cynical spin to give it the necessary impact.
I decided to rely on the story itself to hold interest. I wanted the events to speak for themselves.
With any luck, FRaHGRttS will read like a humorous fictional history lesson.
I suppose it also bears repeating that this is the novella that my friend is illustrating, and that we’re going to release in (extremely short) episodes.
But still, I have doubts. Might just be jitters because every day is a day closer to the release (even though we haven’t even really settled on a date yet).
But I’m hoping that someone will care to opine. I’d like to know if anyone else thinks it’s possible to have a story that tells instead of showing, but is still enjoyable.
Scott Welsh... 