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Show, don't tell is a narrative technique used in various kinds of texts to allow the reader to experience the story through actions, words, subtext, thoughts, senses, and feelings rather than through the author's exposition, summarization, and description. [1]
Instead of writing that someone took the plunge, state their action matter-of-factly. In general, if a literal reading of a phrase makes no sense given the context, the sentence needs rewording. Some idioms are common only in certain parts of the world, and many readers are not native speakers of English; articles should not presume familiarity ...
A laconic phrase or laconism is a concise or terse statement, especially a blunt and elliptical rejoinder. [1] [2] It is named after Laconia, the region of Greece including the city of Sparta, whose ancient inhabitants had a reputation for verbal austerity and were famous for their often pithy remarks.
A similar phrase, "One Look Is Worth A Thousand Words", appears in a 1913 newspaper advertisement for the Piqua Auto Supply House of Piqua, Ohio. [4] Early use of the exact phrase appears in a 1918 newspaper advertisement for the San Antonio Light, which says: One of the Nation's Greatest Editors Says: One Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
Chekhov's gun (or Chekhov's rifle; Russian: Чеховское ружьё) is a narrative principle that states that every element in a story must be necessary and irrelevant elements should be removed. For example, if a writer features a gun in a story, there must be a reason for it, such as it being fired some time later in the plot.
In English writing, quotation marks or inverted commas, also known informally as quotes, talking marks, [1] [2] speech marks, [3] quote marks, quotemarks or speechmarks, are punctuation marks placed on either side of a word or phrase in order to identify it as a quotation, direct speech or a literal title or name.
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W. Somerset Maugham referred to this problem in his 1919 novel The Moon and Sixpence, where he acknowledged: . Strickland, according to Captain Nichols, did not use exactly the words I have given, but since this book is meant for family reading, I thought it better—at the expense of truth—to put into his mouth language familiar to the domestic circle.