Show, Don't Tell - But What Does That Really Mean?

[myfieldnotes]

I was thinking about how I've heard "Show, Don't Tell" as a mantra for writers over and over again, and yet it comes through as white noise somehow for me. What does SHOW mean? I know I'm supposed to do it. But how

Comments

[mrwubbles]

Does anyone else have something they use like that?

Props. I tend to use them as liberally as I use the word "that".

Describing the emotion via physical clues tend to be tricky for me, especially in a long story (which of late, I tend to lean towards). There's only so many adjectives you can use before you repeat them. It's unavoidable. At least for me.

Using a prop to receive the action, I find, really helps me focus the action, toy it to be subtle rather than overdramatize the character through his actions. Words snapping, fist making feels/reads more dramatic if the action was directed towards...let's say, maybe Dean's amulet: twisting the string round and round the finger which saying he doesn't care, or Sam writing in his journal as his dad lectures him about hunting and along the nargins of his recount in hunting the hodag, there are math equations he's been trying to memorize for a math test he knows he'll probably never take because there's a black dog two towns over that needs to be dealt with.

I think one of the BEST writers of prop usage as a way to propel the plot is Aaron Sorkin. Really. I was rewatching West Wing and the episodes just jump with prop play (I don't know if there's a name for this but there you go). Oh, there are loads of examples I can pull, one off the top of my head is the Portland trip one. 80% of the episode is conduced on the prop which was the plane. As it was inflight, hih above, it mirrored everyone's "hey, we're doing a great job" mood but as it began circling, so is everyone else's tasks and as frustration grew to a sense of failure, the plane descends, but no one outright says it. They comment on the plane, express concerns but ONLY on the plane. Yet the plane, becomes our town crier, letting the viewer know even if the characters won't admit it even to themselves...