‘Show them don’t tell them’ was a point brought up and discussed at our latest coffee meeting in the charming Moments café this month, and although I hadn’t heard it said before, it encapsulated some thinking that I had about my long talked about yet under-written dystopian novella. I have decided to both rename and re-draft it. The theme to be re-formulated with the idea of reflecting the evil of the state in the novel reflected by the evil of the antagonists mimicking the state reflected in their own actions. I think I will look at the conscious or unconscious motivation and leave it ambiguous for the reader to ponder. So, as you can tell there’s a comedic element to this project.
I am busy reading the Honourable Schoolboy by John Le Carre, the second of his Karla Trilogy but the only one of the three not adapted for TV (the others being Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and Smiley’s People). The complex knot is being carefully untangled by the scholarly George Smiley and the novel is heavy with moral uncertainty.
This has made me consider that I do need to ensure the book is not too subtle or complex in the ‘show them’ element whilst paring back the ‘tell them’ of its current form. Perhaps two ways of doing it, one the story line, two the narration giving context combining both. Of course, there’s always a third option of converting it into a treatise, which is just ‘tell them’.
Previous commentary almost universally advised that I’d rushed it and told them instead of showing them. And so, it goes on, I can sense that at least one or two will be rolling their eyes and thinking, just write it! But where’s the fun in that 😊