{"id":1263,"date":"2010-03-23T13:15:58","date_gmt":"2010-03-23T18:15:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/?p=1263"},"modified":"2010-03-23T13:51:04","modified_gmt":"2010-03-23T18:51:04","slug":"show-dont-tell-a-different-view","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/2010\/03\/23\/show-dont-tell-a-different-view\/","title":{"rendered":"Show, Don’t Tell (A Different View)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"One of the best writing rules is: “Show, don’t tell.”<\/p>\n

It’s easy when writing to tell the reader things, but it’s best to show things happen and let the reader imagine what they will.<\/p>\n

I never considered this rule applying to being <\/em>a writer, though.<\/p>\n

Until today.<\/p>\n

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Through my AvantGuild<\/a> membership with Mediabistro<\/a>, I receive New York Magazine<\/a>.<\/em> I chose New York Magazine<\/em> over Wired <\/em>and the other magazine that’s offered as part of membership because it’s the magazine I figured I was least likely to ever subscribe to, and I like new things.<\/p>\n

In the March 8 issue of the magazine, there’s an article about restaurateur, Keith McNally. This article interested me because my current novel is about a recently-divorced celebrity chef and restaurateur who sells his Chicago restaurants and moves to a small town in northern Wisconsin to get away from it all and restore an old home.<\/p>\n

After a divorce, McNally sold most of his restaurants at the time, bought land in Martha’s Vineyard, and spent a year renovating a house on the property. McNally said:<\/p>\n

“It was kind of therapeutic, because it was really some form of reconstruction of my inner life after being very quite devastated by divorce.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That sums up the main character in the novel I’m working on right now.<\/p>\n

The end of the article about McNally was what really got me, though.<\/p>\n

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Yesterday<\/a>, I wrote about writers who talk about what they are going to do with writing, instead of actually writing.<\/p>\n

I’ll admit, writers like that have often bothered me; in part, because they seem to be boasting, but also because, on some level, I wish I could sell myself like they do.<\/p>\n

I’ve always been much better at letting my work speak for me, rather than me speaking for my work. For years, I put off this blog because I viewed it as talking about writing more than letting what I write stand on its own.<\/p>\n

I’d rather somebody discover that I write, instead of me telling them I write.<\/p>\n

At the end of the article about McNally, it circles back to talking about his Martha’s Vineyard property, and how content McNally is with farming.<\/p>\n

But while he’s content, he says that he feels “phony most of the time.”<\/p>\n

“I know that I enjoy telling people that I farm, and I think that’s a bad sign to begin with. Of course, it’s best if people find out<\/em> that I farm.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When I read this line, it made me think of that writing rule — show, don’t tell<\/em>— in a different way.<\/p>\n

McNally would rather people find out he farms, instead of telling them. I think this is good advice for writers, too.<\/p>\n

Even though I’ve sold stories and articles, I feel kind of phony when I tell <\/em>people that I write.<\/p>\n

I like it much better when people find out<\/em> that I write.<\/p>\n

Maybe I’d get there quicker if I figured out a way to tell everybody I meet that I write — perhaps I’m missing out on possible connections and contacts by showing instead of telling.<\/p>\n

But I think in all aspects of writing — down to being <\/em>a writer — that it’s best to show, not tell.<\/p>\n

Were writing a farm, talking might help things grow bigger and faster, but there’s something lacking in the flavor of things forced to grow bigger and faster than nature intended.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the best writing rules is: “Show, don’t tell.” It’s easy when writing to tell the reader things, but it’s best to show things happen and let the reader imagine what they will. I never considered this rule applying to being a writer, though. Until today. *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 * Through my AvantGuild membership with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[23,59],"tags":[14],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1263"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1263\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}