Show, don’t tell: considerations about the use of scene and summary in non-fiction narratives

Abstract

Like other genres of literary prose, studies on the production of creative non-fiction have been built around the premise “show, don’t tell”. Today, seen as a dull and obvious rule in creative writing offices, its foundations are found in theses by writers like Anton Chekhov and theorists like Wayne Booth and David Lodge. Due to its evident efficiency, the technique could not avoid being absorbed and naturalized by non-fiction narratives. Using the considerations of these theorists regarding the scene (to show) and the summary (to tell), among other names such as Stephen Koch, Luiz Antonio de Assis Brasil and Noemi Jaffe, this article intends to reiterate the fact that scene and summary are not antagonists, refuting a common belief that summary should be avoided. Using examples of creative nonfiction writers such as Eliane Brum, Lira Neto, Vanessa Barbara, Gay Talese and Susan Orlean, we intend to demonstrate that both forms have the same qualitative power.