Dear reader,
Help! I've written a first draft of an epistolary novel (historical fiction) only to discover that it's a lot of telling and not showing. It's that darn first-person POV that's tripping me up, coupled with the fact that the protagonist wouldn't realistically be writing in depth about situations or even particularly "truthfully" about them. She's telling her version of the events. I'm having trouble detailing events, capturing dialogue, and providing an "image" of the protagonist (she's not going to go into detail about the way she looks in her letters now is she).
I know, I know. As with dialogue, the author is not supposed to write letters realistically but rather mimic realism. Anyone have any tricks?
If you don't know what I'm getting at, just imagine a scene in your own book and how you'd write it as the protagonist through letters. You might end up exactly where I am: in the pit of telling and not showing.
Sincerely,
mongoose29
Epistolary novel - sending for help!
Help! I've written a first draft of an epistolary novel (historical fiction) only to discover that it's a lot of telling and not showing. It's that darn first-person POV that's tripping me up, coupled with the fact that the protagonist wouldn't realistically be writing in depth about situations or even particularly "truthfully" about them. She's telling her version of the events. I'm having trouble detailing events, capturing dialogue, and providing an "image" of the protagonist (she's not going to go into detail about the way she looks in her letters now is she).
I know, I know. As with dialogue, the author is not supposed to write letters realistically but rather mimic realism. Anyone have any tricks?
If you don't know what I'm getting at, just imagine a scene in your own book and how you'd write it as the protagonist through letters. You might end up exactly where I am: in the pit of telling and not showing.
Sincerely,
mongoose29
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