I have been practicing my “show dont tell” in my writing lately and I think Im getting this thing down. I went back and read a lot of my older stuff and i figured out why I wasnt getting any responses from people. I was TELLING a story instead of showing the reader what was going on. I was describing a scene instead of pulling the reader in and making them laugh, cry, get scared, or get mad. I wasnt making them FEEL anything.
Anyone can tell a story. It takes a bit of talent to SHOW the reader what is going on. I dont think it us a God given talent to do this. it CAN be learned. Hell, Im living proof of that. I am just now learning to do it and I think my writing is going to get a lot better for it. Maybe someone will actually WANT to read something that I write once I get the “showing” down pat. God, I have a LOT to learn about writing. Im too old to learn too much. Anyway…more later!
October 21, 2007 at 10:40 am
Show vs Tell is a great lesson to learn – and one which we all have to continually work on in our writing.
But once we learn it, isn’t it great to go back and see how much our writing has improved?
Keep up the good work – and here’s to an upcoming crazy November.
October 21, 2007 at 10:41 am
For sure, Teige. I go back and read some of the drivel I was doing even last year and Im amazed.
October 21, 2007 at 12:44 pm
It’s a hard thing to learn to do. I read over some of my old stuff and new stuff, too, and wonder…”What was/am I doing?”
I’ve dropped out of fiction so much lately because of the money making potential of non fiction, but I still dream of publishing a novel. One day. Maybe.
October 21, 2007 at 11:56 pm
Hey, I still “tell” often and then have to go back and edit to a “show”. *sigh*
October 22, 2007 at 1:18 am
Hey Kelly! Nice to see you here! As for the show and not tell, Im getting better at it. its hard to break old habits!
ShatteredRemains (great name BTW). get your but back in gear on that fiction and get a novel out there! Just DO IT!
October 22, 2007 at 12:29 pm
Well, I do think there’s talent involved. But talent is pointless without skill and dedication. The one thing I’ve learned is writing is a process, and the longer you write, the better you get. So yes, keep writing. And remember too, show can be your friend. Sometimes it’s a far far better thing to show than tell. The key is figuring out when.
October 22, 2007 at 2:10 pm
Phooey on the “too old” business.