Show not tell! Aah - that's the heart of the knot! It's so hard for an academic - who is told constantly to tell and tell again unambiguously - to learn what not to say. How much can you expect your reader to understand, if you don't tell her? If you hint, or make the point with an interaction between characters, or a metaphor, will she miss the point? I am slowly learning, when writing creatively, that the hardest thing for me is what to leave out, and if I can inch my way towards working that problem out I'll also be showing more than telling. Is that easy for an alien to understand? Or harder, do you think?
Yes, it’s striking a balance! I do think a background in academic writing makes this harder - even if (as in my case) the emphasis was on narrative. It sometimes helps me to think of it as ‘revealing’ rather than ‘showing’ - for some reason this demands from me that I help the reader/alien understand.
And, despite appreciating the humor, I also absolutely loved being on my retreat last week. It was really really special (and not in the Olympic sense)
Oh, of course! Retreats are magical spaces. My experience at Moniack Mhor was transformative.
I started writing this piece while tutoring on a summer course - I followed the gaze of one of the attendees as she looked out the window… I was dazzled by the sun, no alien sighting… but I started scribbling. Isn’t funny how ideas land? 🛸🛸🛸
Yes, I had a moment of such funny idea at the Hurst that resulted in a flash fiction piece I ended up reading on the final evening. Several participants on the course had been to Moniack Mhor and highly recommended it, so that is on my vision board now :-)
Where you the ghost who visited me at The Hurst last week? One thing I did appreciate about my workshop was that we were not encouraged to buy any how to books- on the other hand we were invited to buy books by the tutors and the guest, who are all great writers, so really, not a bad idea to read them.
Show not tell! Aah - that's the heart of the knot! It's so hard for an academic - who is told constantly to tell and tell again unambiguously - to learn what not to say. How much can you expect your reader to understand, if you don't tell her? If you hint, or make the point with an interaction between characters, or a metaphor, will she miss the point? I am slowly learning, when writing creatively, that the hardest thing for me is what to leave out, and if I can inch my way towards working that problem out I'll also be showing more than telling. Is that easy for an alien to understand? Or harder, do you think?
Yes, it’s striking a balance! I do think a background in academic writing makes this harder - even if (as in my case) the emphasis was on narrative. It sometimes helps me to think of it as ‘revealing’ rather than ‘showing’ - for some reason this demands from me that I help the reader/alien understand.
Reveal! Yes! Like parting the curtains… That is very helpful Joan….
Oh, I’m glad!
And, despite appreciating the humor, I also absolutely loved being on my retreat last week. It was really really special (and not in the Olympic sense)
Oh, of course! Retreats are magical spaces. My experience at Moniack Mhor was transformative.
I started writing this piece while tutoring on a summer course - I followed the gaze of one of the attendees as she looked out the window… I was dazzled by the sun, no alien sighting… but I started scribbling. Isn’t funny how ideas land? 🛸🛸🛸
Yes, I had a moment of such funny idea at the Hurst that resulted in a flash fiction piece I ended up reading on the final evening. Several participants on the course had been to Moniack Mhor and highly recommended it, so that is on my vision board now :-)
Brilliant! Yes, Moniack is wonderful.
Where you the ghost who visited me at The Hurst last week? One thing I did appreciate about my workshop was that we were not encouraged to buy any how to books- on the other hand we were invited to buy books by the tutors and the guest, who are all great writers, so really, not a bad idea to read them.
Oh, I like that recommendation!