It seems to me that a lot of writing advice is reduced to soundbites appropriate for college sophomores in a writing class. Here are some examples: 1) Write What You Know; 2) Kill Your Darlings; 3) Create Characters the Reader Will Care About; and, of course, 4) Show Don't Tell. I am not saying this is bad advice. It is perfectly fine advice. But it becomes bad advice if you take it too seriously.
I am an incurable contrarian. If too many people accept something without question, I am likely to question it. If somebody asks me my opinion on a hot topic in the news, I will ask "which side do you want me to argue." I actually do believe that both sides of any argument have merit and you really can't come up with an authentic opinion unless you give both sides their due and then decide which side you favor. More often than not, I will not accept either side but come up with a moderate opinion instead.
Several posts ago, I was ranting about the folly of following popular trends. We have numerous catch phrases that are very popular, and I have to say that I am suspicious of them. I think the motives of people who push these ideas are suspect. I should mention that I do not know anybody in the writing industry. So, I am certainly not going to insult any friends. Perhaps some people will refuse to talk to me. But I will not know unless they tell me which they cannot do if they are not talking to me. So, if the entire writing industry hates me, I will be none the wiser. So, I am going to go ahead and do whatever it is that people do to sacred cows.
A very popular piece of advice is "Kill your darlings." The idea here is that the sentences or paragraphs that you like best in your story are likely going to make other people vomit. Shouldn't you say that if you really, really like something that you have written, look at it critically and try to understand how the reader might perceive it. Well, that doesn't make a very good sound bite, bullet point or book title. Perhaps, "Kill your darlings" taps into the inner serial killer that exists in every writer. Maybe this just makes it easy for people who teach writing.
Perhaps, thin skinned Johnny in your writing class has butchered an idea beyond recognition with a mixture of flowery prose and mixed metaphors. So, you suggest that Johnny delete and/or rewrite that paragraph. But Johnny protests saying this this was his favorite paragraph in the whole story. He managed to say what he really wanted to say. What do you do?
You can remind Johnny that good writing advice suggests that you kill your darlings. Perhaps he will accept it. If not give him an A and let him be somebody else's problem next semester. Or you can be more straightforward and tell Johnny that he must be a brain damaged moron if he thinks that is good writing and he would be better off if he dropped out of the writing class and signed up for a class in auto repair instead. Well, that might not be politically correct.
On the other hand, maybe Johnny wants to write in the ornate style of Jane Austen or Charles Dickens. Maybe he shouldn't kill his darlings. Maybe he should learn how to present them properly.
Here is another stock phrase that irks me - Show don't tell. Where did that come from? I actually know where that came from. It is attributed to Anton Chekhov who said, "Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass." But let's take this apart. What, I think, Chekhov was suggesting here is that you can turn something from a fact or observation into an experience. Perhaps the reason why this bit of advice is so popular is that a lot of popular fiction makes an emotional connection with the reader rather than a cognitive connection. After all, it is much easier to feel than it is to think.
But it isn't just easier for the reader. It is easier for the writer as well. Telling can be very economical whereas showing will take a lot more words. Yes, a lot more words. And who is going to complain about that? You can take a 50-page told story and turn it into a 150 page shown story. The reader gets a longer book that is an easier read. And the writer can crank out words of description while ignoring deeper themes and symbols. Telling is more economical but requires more effort on the part of the writer and the reader.
In Mortimer Adler's How to Read a Book he wrote that the "main purpose in reading books is to gain increased understanding". Compare that with those whose main purpose is entertainment or emotional engagement. Showing is inefficient but increases emotional engagement. Telling is more efficient and leads to better understanding.
Going back to Chekhov, I would have to ask were the writers before Chekhov bad writers? There was a lot of telling in Victorian novels. Did Chekhov mean for you to do this every time? Or was Chekhov just providing an alternative to tedious telling? It seems to me that both showing and telling have their place and it is up to the writer to decide which should be used when.
But I have to ask again if all these catch phrases aren't just making it easy for people who run writing workshops and classes. Suppose Johnny has written a piece for the class, and everyone has a copy. Let us say, for the sake of argument. that the plot line is a complete tangle, the setting could be anywhere from the London Underground to the dark side of the moon, and the protagonist, as described, could be anybody from your drunken Uncle to the kid down the street who tortures cats. What do you do? Well, you look for an instance where Johnny told you something rather than showing you and let the guillotine drop on that sentence. Due diligence is done, and your thoughts turn to the chocolate croissant that you are planning to have with you latte during your free period.
I am wrapping up this blog with this stand for authenticity. I will not lose any friends because I don't have any. And I won't make any friends because sometimes I am a little too honest about what I think for the sensibilities of most people. I will close with this piece of advice for aspiring writers. Authenticity is the most important thing to develop. So, if you choose not to kill your darlings don't kill them. And if you feel so moved, tell don't show. If you have made mistakes learn from them and try to do better the next time. But, to the extent that you are able, always be authentic.
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