As a child growing up, when it came to writing Narrative essays I did it because I had no choice but to. At the end of completing such a dreaded task I felt ‘bored to death.’ This boredom caused me to not even want to read my own Narrative pieces. As a result, I felt very uncertain when giving teachers my Narrative essays. This uncertainty turned into reassurance when our teacher, Mrs. Gillian Lazarus taught us ‘The First Rule of Writing.’
This rule is to show the readers what you are talking about rather than telling them. When the teacher taught us this I realized that I wrote mostly telling sentences, which was the reason why my ‘Caught Narrative’ sent me to sleep. I then began to zoom in parts of my essay where I thought will make the ‘Caught Narrative’ more attention-grabbing. The writer must ensure that they describe the scenes and actions in the story. These help us to see by using clear, specific details to create a clear, strong picture in our minds. Showing sentences dramatize the events which occur in your plot. When using showing sentences, the writer has to feel like they are right there in the story to. They should be able to see, hear, feel, smell and even taste your story. When doing this the audience will be speechless and keep begging for more. Now, I know as a writer you should write showing sentences to make your piece livelier and less boring. As a future teacher I will ensure I expose students to this rule in the writing process so their pieces will be more interesting.
I still don’t feel fully confident in my Narrative essays for I still feel like I won't read it. I know one day I will be able to publish a book, but for now this is only the first step for me to becoming a better writer.
(Pinterest, 2020)
This image is examples of telling sentences that has been transformed into telling sentences. This will help you in making your Narrative pieces more interesting.
Reference
Pinterest. (2020). Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/32369691052692082/
Shavel, unlike you, I've always enjoyed writing and reading my narratives. However, I must say that the session on "Show, don't Tell" really impacted me. I say this because I now know what it takes to draw the reader in and I can't remember being taught this rule or perhaps I've forgotten.
ReplyDeleteAs I reflect on the many books I've read over the years, the books which truly affected me were the ones which had that element of 'showing' sentences imbedded. These were the books which made me feel as if I was a part of the scenes, whereas books without the element of 'showing' sentences were the ones I quickly discarded because they bored me.
Now that I am aware of what it takes to draw my reader in, just like you, I have dreams of one day publishing my very own book. I believe if we apply the knowledge we gain in this Lit 102 class, we'll be well on own way to making those dreams reality.
Shavel and Erica, while we are aware that showing sentences add flavour to our narrative pieces, we cannot abandon the telling sentences.
ReplyDeleteI was reading this article published by autocrit(2020), who stressed that both showing and telling sentences have their place in a narrative piece. Additionally, they believed that contrary to popular belief, there are times when telling may even be better than showing. Especially, when describing how a character thinks or feels, otherwise known as internal narrative such as a monologue.
They further explained that showing sentences relies on a character’s actions.
For example, “He shoved back his chair and slammed his fist against the table.”
This sentence shows us that the character is angry, but we have no idea what he’s actually thinking. The readers wouldn't know unless you tell them.
https://www.autocrit.com/editing/support/showing-vs-telling-indicators/ This is the link to the page. You can check it out to get a better understanding.
All in all, the bottom line is that both showing and telling sentences are the essence of a good story. However, in 75% of your story, it is better to show rather than tell.
I appreciate the link. I checked it out and it makes sense to me. When writing narratives, it's important to find that perfect balance between showing and telling sentences. One must not totally eliminate one, favouring the other as they each have their unique place.
DeleteShavel as I read your first paragraph the initial thought that came to me was ,I hope this new knowledge has inspired you so much to try your utmost best to not let your future students feel the same way you felt about writing, then I felt a sense of relief when I got to your penultimate paragraph where you mentioned exposing your students to what you have learnt to assist them in their writing. You are the right the right path Shavel, I can assure you of that. After all that's our main goal to get out there and pass on our new knowledge to these youngsters.
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