I have boycotted Dan Brown. I have just heard too, too many awful things to be interested.
Let him do his thing, and then you get him out. No messing with him for laughs.
Mal ,'Ariel'
The Great Write Way, Chapter Two: Twice upon a time...
A place for Buffistas to discuss, beta and otherwise deal and dish on their non-fan fiction projects.
Strix - Apr 23, 2006 4:45:13 pm PDT #6378 of 10001
A dress should be tight enough to show you're a woman but loose enough to flee from zombies. — Ginger
SailAweigh - Apr 23, 2006 4:48:21 pm PDT #6379 of 10001
Nana korobi, ya oki. (Fall down seven times, stand up eight.) ~Yuzuru Hanyu/Japanese proverb
I picked it up to look at it, got maybe 5 pages in and decided that 90% of the fanfic writers online have a better concept of "show, not tell" than he does. The only thing I can think is that there is a certain percentage of readers out there, like television watchers, who want things spoon-fed to them. Ugh.
deborah grabien - Apr 23, 2006 4:49:41 pm PDT #6380 of 10001
It really doesn't matter. It's just an opinion. Don't worry about it. Not worth the hassle.
And what's really scary is that it's generally conceded that Angels & Demons is a far, far better-written book than daVinci Code.
People are weird.
Strix - Apr 23, 2006 4:50:38 pm PDT #6381 of 10001
A dress should be tight enough to show you're a woman but loose enough to flee from zombies. — Ginger
Oh, yeah.
SailAweigh - Apr 23, 2006 4:52:58 pm PDT #6382 of 10001
Nana korobi, ya oki. (Fall down seven times, stand up eight.) ~Yuzuru Hanyu/Japanese proverb
Whoops, I got confused. I was talking about The DaVinci Code. Hee.
erikaj - Apr 23, 2006 4:57:10 pm PDT #6383 of 10001
Always Anti-fascist!
My mother bought me one for a quarter. I think she overpaid.
Steph L. - Apr 23, 2006 5:09:04 pm PDT #6384 of 10001
I look more rad than Lutheranism
The only thing I can think is that there is a certain percentage of readers out there, like television watchers, who want things spoon-fed to them.
Well, exactly. That's why telling, rather than showing, is such bad, sloppy writing. In the example I gave above, Dan Brown is relying on his readers' cultural knowledge of a cliche, and using that cliche as a really crappy combination of shorthand and placeholder. And that's not good writing.
All Dan Brown would have had to do to *show* the protagonist's shock at receiving the Fax of Doom is to say something like "As Protagonist read the fax, he paled, and reached out a hand to steady himself against the desk."
That's not even a good snippet, but it still manages to *show* Protagonist's shock rather than just *telling* us he was shocked.
Bah.
deborah grabien - Apr 23, 2006 5:14:58 pm PDT #6385 of 10001
It really doesn't matter. It's just an opinion. Don't worry about it. Not worth the hassle.
Tep, how do you feel about this, for show not tell? (edit: for a similar theme, which is why I'm posting it)
(edit: and, removed. Not yet under copyright, so leaving it up not an option)
deborah grabien - Apr 23, 2006 5:24:22 pm PDT #6386 of 10001
It really doesn't matter. It's just an opinion. Don't worry about it. Not worth the hassle.
Going to delete that after a bit, since this is a WIP. Curious, if anyone has commentary. What does that snippet evoke, or do? Anyone?
Steph L. - Apr 23, 2006 5:31:57 pm PDT #6387 of 10001
I look more rad than Lutheranism
Well, it definitely shows rather than tells. For me, though -- and this could be because I am very VERY tired right now and can't really concentrate -- I'm not sure *what* it's showing me. I feel like I would need a little more setup/background to grasp what it is I'm being shown.
To put it another way, what I'm seeing is JP being startled and....perplexed, I'd say, at a memory that was suddenly evoked. But I'm not totally sure without any further context.