Okay, I've noticed something really, really odd when it comes to MLP fan-fics. I recently read a story called It Started With a Hoof, and I thought it was decent. Not great, but passable. The dialogue is pretty good, it doesn't shove romance down your throat (at least, at first), and Pinkie isn't portrayed as an overly energetic buffoon. My problem with the story, however, is that the thoughts of characters - their feelings, intentions, etc. are just stated outright.
Here's a paraphrased example: Pinkie crawls into bed with Twilight, but Twilight has no problem with it; in fact, it feels right.
You've undoubtedly read other stories where you're just told how characters are feeling. I've written stories that way, much to my shame. The weird thing is that the characters in alot of stories in this community are treated as insignificant compared to the environment around them. I'll read five-sentence-long paragraphs establishing that there's a storm outside, or that the sun is going down, or that it's cold. Entire chapters are dedicated to fight scenes in Upheaval: Breaking Point. The environment and action are made so vivid that I can picture them in my head, but the moment a character enters the picture, everything becomes almost formulaic.
Twilight Sparkle sat by the fireplace and sipped a cup of hot tea. She flipped the page of her book and sighed. Reading was her favorite activity, but right now, all she could think about was [insert thing here].
Examples would help my case, but just go through the site and I guarantee that within five minutes you'll see what I'm talking about.
I'm reading a book called The Bat by Jo Nesbo. It's about a Swedish detective named Harry Hole (pronounced "Hoo-leh") and his investigation of a murder in Australia. As Harry and his partner, Andrew (who I love), go along with their investigation, they interact with a variety of people: transvestites, hippies, heroin dealers, and barmaids, to name a few. And with each interaction, I learn more about each detective. Their backstories are sprinkled into the investigation over multiple chapters. Harry's a struggling alcoholic, and Andrew...well, as far as I've gotten, Andrew is just a smooth-talking badass.
Each chapter, their thoughts during conversations are not often told to the reader, but shown through their dialogue. There's also the frequent description of facial movements and hand gestures, but I still consider that "showing," because I still have to determine why they make the face or hand gesture.
Oh, Andrew just shouted at the boxer,Toowoomba, to kick a guy's ass. Toowoomba saw Andrew and smiled and waved. These two must know each other. And Toowoomba's smile and wave, despite Andrew's shouts of profanity, tell me these two are close. Friends, maybe. Toowoomba also seems remarkably relaxed despite being in a boxing match, so he must be the cocky type. Or just be really good at boxing.
All that from a quick smile and wave.
I rarely find characters portrayed with this level of simplicity and subtlety in fan-fics. A character is often introduced with a page of text describing everything about them other than the name of their childhood pet. Conversations are filled with "Applejack said, thinking [insert thing here]," or "Twilight felt [insert thing here]."
Characters in Jo Nesbo's book will still tell their backstory, but they never do it during their first appearence, and they only do it through dialogue when it's relevant to the topic at hand. For instance, Harry goes on a date/interview with a cute barmaid named Birgitta. They discuss Harry's investigation, his Swedish background, Birgitta's ex, and how she wound up in Australia despite being from Norway. Harry and Birgitta react to each others' words, but the reader sees those reactions through speech and the occasional, short sentence. For example: "[Birgitta] rested her chin on her hand and gazed into the air considering the question." It's rather cute and playful, and hints that there's something between her and Harry.
Contrast this to many fan-fics, where most quotes are followed by two or three lines of why the character said the thing they just said (or will say). The only times I can think of this not happening is when the characters in the scenes are ones we already know. Pinkie talks insanely fast and nonsensically. Twilight rants about science. Fluttershy mumbles and says "Um, if it's okay with you" alot - by the way, stop writing that line for Fluttershy! The only time I'm ever really "shown" a character is when it's a character I'm already familiar with. I'm not learning anything new about them.
No, wait. I'm actually often "shown" characters that are one-dimensional. There for a cheap laugh, to be a dick, or serve one plot-point. Princess Luna, from Princesses Don't Potty, and 95% of the other stories she's in, is a loud, hyperactive goofball. There's no mystery behind the character. And don't get "mystery" confused with "meaning incredibly subtle and complex and so original a concept that the character should be heralded as 'amazing' until the end of time." I just mean...I want to think about a character's motives. Why did they say that? Why did they do that? (If what I'm saying here doesn't make sense, tell me, because I think this issue of one-dimensional, one-purpose characters needs to be adressed).
Even if there are no one-dimensional characters, and the characters shown are "shown," every fan-fic I can remember still devolves into a "telly" format. I'm told everything about the characters, and consequently, I get bored. And then there will come another incredibly descriptive paragraph of the environment. Wow, I can totally picture that pony crawling into a warm bed. This is amazing! (That's sarcasm, by the way).
The characters become less important than the scenery. I don't attach to the characters, and suddenly I feel like the vivid descriptions are just pretentious attempts by the author to sound more eloquent than he/she actually is. My ties to the characters are severed, and reading suddenly feels pointless.
After all, if the author isn't going to bother to try and portray the story and characters in a compelling way, and instead pay more attention to what Ponyville looks like as the sun is setting,Twilight's library, or some other thing...why should I care?

So let's open this up to discussion. Why is so much attention paid to environments and action, yet so little to characters? Do you consider it a problem? Do you know any stories that do have "Non-telly" characters?

I'll lead in with a caveat that "Show, don't tell" is pretty pernicious advice for writing. It sorta-kinda works as a rule of thumb some of the time, and that's about it.

There's also an instance where it's perfectly fine to tell a character's thoughts and feelings: Those of your viewpoint character during limited third person (and, to a lesser extent, first person).

Putting that aside, though, why are many fanfics so hamhanded when it comes to characterisation? Because characterisation is hard. There's an awful lot going on there (and a lot of it is quite subtle and quite layered), especially when compared to setting or plot. (Setting and plot can be complicated, of course, but in general you can get away with making them simple whereas with character, your really can't). So many authors won't be able to pull it off well without resorting to caricatures, and those who do feel the need to bludgeon the reader with all the work they put into it.

I know plenty of stories with good characterisation. I'll be egoistic, though, and recommend my own.

1375750

I'll lead in with a caveat that "Show, don't tell" is pretty pernicious advice for writing. It sorta-kinda works as a rule of thumb some of the time, and that's about it.

I think it's more important than you give it credit for. It's always worth keeping in mind, and unless there's a good reason to tell outright (like pacing issues), anything that isn't a matter of direct perception should be shown. Things the reader figures out for himself will impact him more than things he's told, and he'll even find them more believable.

I've tried to show more than tell, to imply my characters' thoughts by describing their actions. It's quite tough, but I've often done a good job, if I do say so myself. I'm not sure who else to recommend, on that front. I know I've read stories better at it than mine are, but I don't remember which ones of the top of my head.

1377193

Two points. First, qualifying the rule in that way reduces it to triviality. For any specific choice in phrasing, a writer hould be able justify it compared to alternatives -- that is, the writer should have a good reason. Therefore "show unless you have a good reason to tell" amounts to "you should follow this rule except when you shouldn't."

Second, I try to avoid reader psychologising because it usually amounts to pulling glib statements out of nowhere. But let's suppose it's true that things shown (which I presume you mean by things the reader figures out for himself) have a stronger emotional impact on the reader. That strikes me as a pretty good argument against show-don't-tell as a rule. A story where everything had the same emotional intensity regardless of its significance would be horrible to read.

I'll stop here because this is sidling off topic.