If fiction’s war on exposition has a rallying cry, it’s: "Show, Don’t Tell." Whether offered by teachers as a Rule of Writing or wielded as a cudgel by workshop peers, this phrase is often slapped on any expositional passage regardless of narrative needs. But why?
Author Kim Stanley Robinson says "…the advice 'show don’t tell' is a zombie idea, killed forty years ago by the publication in English of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, yet still sadly wandering the literary landscape, confusing people."
In this Writing the Other Craft Chat, authors Rebecca Makkai and Cecilia Tan join K. Tempest Bradford to explore the idea that "Show, Don’t Tell" is an outdated and inherently colonialist piece of writing wisdom, offer different frameworks for analyzing how and why exposition works in narrative, and give tools to determine what to tell, what to show, and how much space each tactic gets.
📢 Accessibility Statement
This video's English closed captions have been edited for accuracy.
📢 Essays and Other Resources
▫️ Thoughts On Exposition by Kim Stanley Robinson - https://writingtheother.com/thoughts-on-exposition/
▫️ Let Me Tell You by Cecilia Tan - https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/let-me-tell-you/
▫️ As You Know, Bob… by Jeannette Ng - https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/as-you-know-bob/
▫️ Full Resource List For This Discussion - https://writingtheother.com/death-to-show-dont-tell-resource/
⤇ Rebecca's Website: http://rebeccamakkai.com/
⤇ Cecilia's Website: https://blog.ceciliatan.com/
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Chapters
00:00 Introduction
01:53 Why We Need This Discussion
03:28 Rebecca Makkai
04:43 Cecilia Tan
06:28 Kim Stanley Robinson on Exposition
09:00 Death to False Dichotomies
09:58 Show, Don't Tell is a Colonialist Idea
12:18 Exposition in Speculative Fiction vs Contemporary
17:14 What Needs Explaining, What Doesn't, and Why
19:36 The Overlap Between Likely Audience and Imagined Ear
25:53 Show Don't Tell Hinders Writers Unnecessarily
30:19 The Use of Summary
32:37 Narrative on Screen vs the Page
37:54 Summary Again
40:21 Characters and Layers
42:25 Examining How Published Authors Balance It All
46:46 Is the Council of Elrond Showing or Telling?
48:00 Fiction Reflects the Era We're In
51:40 "Show, Don't Tell" is a CIA Plot
55:28 The Potential of Omniscience
01:02:55 Examples of Good Exposition
01:08:39 Narrative Frames
01:11:02 Worldbuilding and Audience Assumptions
01:23:58 Working Out Stuff Off the Page
01:29:44 Plotters and Pantsers
01:32:10 Recommendations
01:43:31 Conclusion