Found under Most Reading Advice Is Bad and Good Reading Advice Is Contextual. A very thoughtful article by the great Neal Stephenson.

He reflects on the old adage “show, don’t tell,” riffing on a line from Charles Dickens’ The Pickwick Papers. Stephenson makes the case that sometimes telling is actually better than showing and that good writing depends on the reader being prepared to actively participate in what the writer is inviting them to imagine.

It’s a sharp, nuanced reflection on how readers and writers co-create meaning.