>Want to write a novel
>Books and articles tell you rules
>Show, don't tell, but most novels do so anyway
>Good prose means concise, direct language. Bust most novels use allegory and purple here and there
There are so many do's and dont's of writing that are broken by many authors all the time, and the caveat is always that you should have a "sense" of when to use them. Where can I learn this? After millenia of written word we should have quantified this shit by now, why the fucking mystery?
Shut up
>After millenia of written word we should have quantified this shit by now, why the fucking mystery?
When STEMfags try to Veeky Forums
>>Books and articles tell you rules
There's rules?
>Show, don't tell, but most novels do so anyway
Sometimes showing can be just as effective. Show when it's best to show, tell when it's best to tell.
>Good prose means concise, direct language.
In general, it's best to teach beginners this. Probably the best skill a writer can have is writing ideas in shortest, most direct, and most impactful way. Not that you ALWAYS want to write like this though.
Poor bait or an idiot
>Sometimes showing can be just as effective.
It's one of the basic rules you try to teach beginners, to show rather than tell. Like concise, effective writing, it's pretty necessary for writers to learn how to show.
Sort of like baseball, how you always teach dumb kids to always cat a ball with your glove pointing out, rather than underhand. If you watch the pros, they catch the ball any damn way they can, but for kids you drill the overhand thing into their head just because it's the most helpful. Same with writing though, there's tons of things you try to drill into amateur writers heads, just to get their basics sound, but ultimately it's up to them to write however the fuck they feel like and make it good.
>I don't get thing, help
>lol he needs help
Thanks, a very useful post
>After millenia of written word we should have quantified this shit by now
bruh that's optimism
It's like language.
If you asked most native english speakers when it's appropriate to use the words, "Was," and, "Were" most wouldn't be able to explain it.
If you said, "I were going to the store," they'd all know it was wrong, but if you asked them why, they probably wouldn't be able to tell you.
They might not know what the rule is consciously, but they have it ingrained in their head. You're looking to do the same with writing, which you'll learn, like with language, by doing it a lot.
>After millenia of written word we should have quantified this shit by now,
After millennia of attempts of quantifying this shit you could've realized that it can't be quantified.
>If you said, "I were going to the store," they'd all know it was wrong, but if you asked them why, they probably wouldn't be able to tell you.
Are anglos really this dumb?
>purple
Jesus Christ please fuck off. It's not like reading is hard, who cares if you have to infer meaning or don't understand every sentence? You could work it out, but you claim "muh purple," to justify your abandonment of a reading. You are a veritable fraud, simulacrum posturing publicly. Privately it's dilatory will, ephemeral inspiration, and transparent pleasure, into quibbling angst, to conquer perceived furtive perception, theoretically. But practically? TeeHee.
>how do i do this writing thing?
>READING IS NOT HARD
Nice reading comprehension
It was about the purple comment.
Apparently reading is hard.
You're a fucking idiot if you believe this. It's not actually "Show, don't tell" that you teach beginners. That's just people who don't know how to actually listen. The thing is you need to learn when to show, and when to tell, because they both have their place. People just tend to use them in the wrong place.
...
>"I were going to the store," they'd all know it was wrong, but if you asked them why, they probably wouldn't be able to tell you.
Really?
A better example - why is it ding-dong and not dong-ding
>After millenia of written word we should have quantified this shit by now, why the fucking mystery?
I guess you haven't figured this out yet but the longer humans spend doing things the more time we spend making it complicated.
ablaut reduplication
>ablaut reduplication
quit missing the point so you can flex, asshat
The reason showing is better than telling is that "telling" is just exposition and hand-holding, "Showing" is expression and demonstrative by example, which is tastefully subtle.
Purple prose does not mean what you think it means. Also, read Stanley Fish on sentences.