"If you’re doing your job, the reader feels what you felt. You don’t have to tell the reader how to feel. No one likes to be told how to feel about something. And if you doubt that, just go ahead. Try and tell someone how to feel."
That's an excerpt from a beautiful article by novelist Alexander Chee. Read the rest of it here.
Very nice, and VERY true.... My goal is to to make pulses race, and eyes tear up at will, through my writing. If I can do that, I will consider myself a successful writer.
ReplyDeleteThat is a skill worth acquiring.
ReplyDeleteYes, show, don't tell. Tis the mark of a true artist. Thanks for sharing the article!
ReplyDeleteI received a couple of critiques recently that really drove home the point that each reader will bring his or her own perceptions to a story. One person's sad scene is another person's eye-roller. One person's brave, witty hero is another person's reckless bonehead. In a sense, it's best to simply present the "facts" and not try too hard to nudge people in any one emotional direction. When we write one story, we've really written hundreds, because each person who reads it will interpret and visualize a little bit differently.
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