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If LJ goes down, there is a back up meme post at: http://fail-fandomanon.dreamwidth.org/671.html
Rules:
If LJ goes down, there is a back up meme post at: http://fail-fandomanon.dreamwidth.org/671.html
Rules:
- No pictures, real ( Read more... )
I'm always told to "Show, don't tell" when I write, and by now, it's almost habit to not write "Timmy was a jackass," and instead show him being a jackass, etc.
But when it comes to fanfic, is it even a little acceptable to just Tell?
For instance, if we all know that Timmy is a jackass from canon, is there a point to showing it, aside from it just being good writing practice? And does this get boring/annoying to the fanfic audience, who might have to read about Timmy being a jackass in hundreds of fics, over and over again?
I ask because I'm writing a fic for a kink meme, and I normally would go all out on giving background and such, but in this fic, I just tell so much. And some part of my brain is going BAD BAD BAD, while another part is going, IT'S PORN, EVERYONE KNOWS YOUR MAIN CHARACTER IS AN ASSHOLE.
tl;dr - Is it more or less acceptable to ignore the Show Don't Tell rule for established canon characteristics?
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I think in the case of known canon personalities (Character A is a jerk at times, Character B sometimes behaves childishly, etc.) there's no need to show it - telling is just fine. I think where it becomes an issue is perhaps the level of the behavior - if that makes sense....
Like... okay character A can sometimes be a jerk - this is canon. But is character A so much of a jerk that he'd intentionally say something that would hurt his best friend? If not, than yeah you're going to have to show me why he did that.
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I find that having to show every little canon characteristic makes me lose enthusiasm for writing the fanfic, when in fact, that enthusiasm is what would've made the fic come alive. And ultimately, I write fanfic for fun, not 'cause I want to create high art or anything, so showing everything just drags the story down for me. I think "show, don't tell" is a good concept in theory, but it's not applicable to every situation.
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LOL! I picked Timmy totally at random, anon! I knew I'd end up choosing a name from someone's fandom regardless.
Thanks for the insight. The character I'm writing is an unforgiving asshole, and like you say, everyone knows it. I could easily write scene after scene with him doing assholey things, but I fear redundancy.
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Yeah, IMO no need for him to be doing the 'showy' asshole things unless they're advancing the kink-plot. I guess the equivalent is that fic where the writer has their character standing in front of a mirror so he can check he still has dark brown unruly hair and those enticing grey/blue eyes... For the reader, who lusts after him on a weekly basis, that description is completely unnecessary UNLESS he's just been bodyswapped or someone dyed his hair in his sleep or... something like that!
Tell it or show it, either way, only if you need it to get the action from A to B to C. That's my thing anyway! And good luck!
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(Insufficient Timness in last few weeks of Justified has made me very D-:< But looks like he's back to entertain us next week's ep, so YAY!)
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Yeah I get that. My fandom's kink meme is very encouraging of plotty fics, though, so some prompts are less kink, and more... gimme a story, but with definite eventual sex? Then some prompts and fills are even gen or PG. That'd usually annoy me when it comes to a kink meme, but my fandom's so small, and the community somehow ended up converging there for the regular stuff, so I'm just happy to have any fic at all.
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I think of "show, don't tell" and "remove adverbs/adjectives" and most of the other advice as being the writing equivalent of the Pirate Code: they're more like guidelines, really.
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