McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft

Given Penny's post, here is another pet peeve of mine...

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meg_evonne:
Why would a writer use, "seems"? Why would any writer do that, and we ALL do it in first drafts and even in final copy edits!  How can reporting a feeling or an action rather than giving the reader that same thing directly?

As the frustrated reader, the writer is cheating me and putting up a barrier between me and the character or the action. Even when a writer wants to distance the reader from a particular character for some great reason, I can't be satisfied until you SHOW me why I'm distanced rather than TELLING me.

Please don't ever TELL me. I'm a bright intelligent reader, and I don't want you to TELL me anything--SHOW me!

OK, that was harsh for a Sunday morning. It must be my hungry stomach...  Sorry, but I'll post it anyway, because it is true. Never talk down to your reader, whether they are ten or ninety.

Aminar:
Can you give some examples of what you mean?  I'm not getting the gist of the post and I'm intrigued.

Gruud:
The only time I find myself using the word "seem" or its equivalent is when I'm in one character's POV, trying to describe (whether showing or telling) the actions of another character.

What's their motivation, why are the doing or saying  what they do?

The currently occupied chaarcter can't really know, but by observation of body language, tone of voice etc they can make an educated guess.

So, the other person my "seem to reconsider" or may "seem to be preoccupied by their recollections", because the POV'er can't really know for sure.

Is that what you mean, or is it something else entirely?

Aminar:
I would think it should only be used when describing something the character isn't sure is there.

Take this bit from very early in my story.  A bit description heavy, but its meant to add a bit more suspense to the first encounter...
"A few moments later a five foot tall, twenty foot long, bipedal, feathered reptile clicked into view at the T-junction in the tunnels to Keth’s left.  Its black scales and feathers seemed to glimmer with hidden turquoise and red-gold highlights as it turned its serpentine neck toward Keth." 

RobJN:
In one particular piece I've been working on, the narrator "seems" all the time. He has to guess at what the others around him are thinking and feeling. Other times, he is describing something he has never seen before (or is unsure is genuinely real, darned pesky illusions...), and his terminology is peppered with uncertainty. Yet another case, he does not speak the language of one of the company's traveling companions, and must constantly guess what it is she says purely by judging her facial expression and body language.

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