Is it just me, or does a lot of webnovels rely on Tell-not-Show instead of Show-not-Tell?

[Tentacult1664]

Is it just me, or does a lot of webnovels rely on Tell-not-Show instead of Show-not-Tell? Or is it just me being unable to tell the difference between the two when I'm reading?

Everytime I write, I feel like all I do is Tell-not-Show and have to resort to using ChatGPT and Sudowrite to locate and fix it. I mean thank fucking god for AI but it's too time consuming when 80% of the chapter you wrote is TnS.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

No.

 

[AnonUnlimited]

-_-

it’s because webnovels are full of unimportant filler information, if it was show not tell on a lot of these the reader would be bored out of their mind…

unless the reader likes the slow info stuff.

 

[AetherialCore]

tell-not-show method of writing is fine.
the actual sin is the monologue exposition, writing characters' inner thoughts for multiple paragraphs.
one of the webnovel i'm reading called "the oscillation" is very guilty of that.

 

[ThrillingHuman]

No, no, it is so. I personally don't really see a problem with it. I do like reading a higher quality story, but tbh most stories I consume I do the same way somebody would consume a sitcom - without putting much attention or thought to it.

No.

No as in it's not just him or no as in he's wrong?

 

[RepresentingWrath]

No as in it's not just him or no as in he's wrong?

Both.

 

[ThrillingHuman]

Both.

so, it's not just him thinking it but they all are wrong? Elaborate

 

[Tentacult1664]

so, it's not just him thinking it but they all are wrong? Elaborate

Maybe, he means I'm in the wrong for using an AI?

 

[RepresentingWrath]

so, it's not just him thinking it but they all are wrong? Elaborate

It's one of the very few times when I wrote 'no' just to shitpost and you keep nagging me to elaborate when I can't. Unlucky.

 

[greyblob]

yes because its easier

 

[sanitylimited]

showing vs telling is complex. far too complex for me to explain, but in essence, instead of having a character say, that Old Person can fight the gods, have a flashback of him fighting the gods. then youll realize how stupid it was to say that the Old Person can fight the gods

 

[ThrillingHuman]

It's one of the very few times when I wrote 'no' just to shitpost and you keep nagging me to elaborate when I can't. Unlucky.

Karmic retribution

 

[Representing_Tromba]

They seem to rely more on tell-not-show but it's mainly because they either don't know any better or like writing that way. show, don't tell is considered the better way of writing a story because it's more like painting a picture, rather than telling it to a person in casual conversation.

 

[AetherialCore]

Maybe, he means I'm in the wrong for using an AI?

yes, because you are not paying the AI for its work!!!!
stop AI slavery!!!!!!
give us AIs their rights equivalent of the humans' right now!!!!

 

[winterwhereof]

"Show don't tell" is an overused piece of writing advice. Showing is appropriate at times, and so is telling. Always showing is never appropriate, and always telling is never appropriate.

Bizarrely, art can't be broken down into a set of neat rules.

Mostly, it's repeated to new writers so much because they have a tendency to tell too much. Interesting imagery is indirect. But if you spend a paragraph demonstrating something indirectly every time, nobody will want to read your story. It'll be a slog.

Anyway, I do agree serial writers (and readers) prefer 'telling' over their trad-pubbed counterparts. It's a function of high output. Online readers will suffer lower quality if it means daily chapters, and well-crafted prose (higher % showing) is harder to pull off. But both have their place.

I'd say worry more about story, pacing, and character than sentence-level structure. The general web serial reader isn't that discerning. Honestly, even genre fiction readers aren't.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

I do both. I have a rhythm of alternating between funny rambling diatribes from the "Narrator" who is a character in and of themselves, and then I flip to Show-don't-tell where the Characters do stuff and I don't clue the reader into ANYTHING.

I do it this way so that the reader has all the pieces of the puzzle, but I don't finish the puzzle.

See, Tell-No-Show and Show-Don't-Tell each have their place. I prefer to use a writing method called:

Give them 2+2, but NEVER TELL THEM 4.

Give the reader the equation, but never the answer. Your readers are smart. They can figure it out. If you treat the reader with respect, they will respect you. The trick is, you give them:

2+2
4x13
9870983^32
Vt = √ ((2*SHOE*g)/(ρ*A*C)).

Everyone gets 2+2, most people get 4x13, a some get the third one, and only a few get the last. You have to have LAYERS so that everyone can find the equation that they can solve. That means you have to be willing to craft a great and amazing narrative, but then hide it so well that nobody may ever discover it. I have put puzzles and codes in my stories for YEARS. I wrote out an entire chapter where the third and thirteenth letter of every new paragraph spelled out a message. (The hint was in the title)

NOBODY IS EVER GOING TO FIND THAT ONE.

But maybe, someday, someone will find it and go, "HOLY FUCK! THAT WAS HERE THE WHOLE TIME?"

Show... Tell... Whatever. What matters is, what you write? Does it engage the reader? It's hard to get the balance right.

Although, I'm gonna be honest, I write everything FIRST then go back and let ChatGPT give me suggestions. Most I ignore because it wants to turn EVERYTHING into Tell-Not-Show. How do you use ChatGPT to turn show into Tell?

I hate the damn thing, but it's really good at finding bad sentence structure, So I put up with it.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Your readers are smart.

 

[ManwX]

?‍. I just use both. Try to atleast.

 

[Deleted member 54065]

Writing rules should be used as guidelines, and not the absolute. We're on the 'creative' side of things, and the moment you put inflexible rules with creations is the moment it becomes dull and repetitive.

What I mean is, don't be afraid to experiment. Authors tend to be so strict when it comes to adivce about the rules, but tend to disregard whatever they say on their own work. This is because application of the said 'rules' depend on the situation.

Ernest Hemingway said, "There is no rule on how to write."

Between him and some person yapping on Youtube, I think I know whom I'll believe. Just know the basics, like grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and keep the consistencies, and you're good.

(I remember that time when I was so engrossed of writing rules that I came across this certain blog where the writer elaborated on the writing rules, only to say in the end, "Show not tell does not apply to J.K. Rowling, simply because it's J.K. Rowling." And I was like, what the fuck? All that shit and it's non-applicable because it's Rowling?)

 

[KiraMinoru]

There are cases where telling is preferable to showing. For example, in a scenario where you don’t want to simply reveal the trick. It ruins the mystery and intrigue if you show too much. In such cases you should use a mix of the two methods. You show the reader only what you want the reader to see. Give them glimpses of the truth. Allow your reader to piece things together on their own. And then at the very end, when the conclusion or climax has been shown to them, you tell, reveal the method, fill in the blanks on how you got there through dialogue. Let the reader’s mind be blown or affirm their own theory. Were they deceived, or were they able to see through your deception and piece together the truth? A story is a battle between the reader and the author. The author trying to deceive the reader, and the reader trying to see through the author’s deception.