This post is part of the “From Dreaming to Publishing” series.
- Telling is a narrative summary, we’re being told
- Showing is an immediate scene, we get to feel/live it
- Capture readers early on, the first chapter should be all about showing
- Amateurs draw attention to themselves by telling a lot
- Engage readers’ emotions (show) not their intellects (tell)
- Don’t overdo it: narrative (tell) varies rhythm
- Scene after scene is exhausting and becomes less impressive
Checklist
- Which narrative fits best your scene?
- Going from scene to scene without pauses? Let the reader breath with a narrative!
- Long passages with nothing happening in real time? Stop telling and start showing!
- Describing emotions of characters? Resist the urge to explain and show them!
This post is a personal summary of a chapter from the book Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, which I read when preparing for NaNoWriMo. It warns amateur writers for the common pitfalls and provides solutions with examples. I’m sure you’ll find it useful too.
