Lecture 2: Building Fictional Worlds through Evocation
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something out of a reader’s imagination, not just putting something into it.z When you tell readers something, you appeal mainly to the rational,
analytical mind, not to the senses. But when you show readers
something, you draw out something that is already present—memories
or imaginings—even if your readers don’t know it. In other words,
when you tell readers something, you make them witnesses, but when
you show them something, you make them participants.z Evocation is both a subtle and a powerful technique. It entails both the
writer and the reader using their imaginations.
o Writers use their skill with words to call forth scenes from
their imaginations in enough detail that readers, without really
thinking about it, use their own imaginations and memories
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sensory impressions are evoked.o 2QHRIWKHEHQH¿WVRIHYRFDWLRQLVWKDWHYHQWKRXJKUHDGHUV
are doing half the work, they don’t realize it, and they actually
enjoy the experience. The feeling of being in the scene with
the characters and being engaged by the narrative is one of
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captures this effect comes from the American novelist and
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as the creation of “a vivid and continuous dream.”o In her book :ULWLQJ)LFWLRQ, another creative writing teacher,
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emotions “without paying for them.” This is what evocation is
all about. When you get the reader to laugh, you’re evoking
merriment; when you get the reader to sweat and turn on all
the lights, you’re evoking fear. You don’t just allow readers to
visualize themselves in certain situations, but you prompt them
to engage with the situation emotionally in the same way they
would if they were actually experiencing it in real life.