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Cry Me A River Telling emotion rather than showing. Definition: Showing verses telling applies primarily to emotion. It’s the authors job to show the reader what the characters are doing and feeling. Even what the character is thinking through the action on the page. Telling means the author is describing the emotion and reaction in the prose. Struggling to show verses tell might mean the author doesn’t know what the characters want in the scene or the scene goal. Showing “pictures” the emotion, pictures the action. Most authors do this well. He slammed the door shut as he left the room. She gunned the gas as she headed for home. We get they are angry. But where we get a bit lost is in showing the emotion of the scene. […]

It Was Raining, You Know? Did I Tell You It Was Raining? A Nor’easter If Ever There Was One Rehashing what the reader already knows. Definition: Hanging on a plot point too long as a way to make sure the reader gets it, OR as a way to boost word count. This is a big struggle for a lot of writers. I see this in published books all the time. The heroine ponders the hero’s invitation to dinner for three chapters. The hero ponders asking the heroine to dinner for a whole chapter. The heroine ponders her future husband while pondering what she has to do to save the family estate – for sixty pages. Don’t linger! Move the story forward. Set the problem once and move one. Hint at it one more […]

Hi! How Are You? I’m fine! Good, Good. So, What’s New? Using dialog to as filler. Letting prose do the heavy lifting. Dialog is the gas to your story. It’s what makes the characters come to life. And characters are the story. Without them, we have nothing engaging to hold the reader for 400 pages. Dialog is created to tell the story. It is not every day communication. Dialog is not used to show the reader the protagonist is a nice Christian by saying “thank you” and “I’m sorry.” Show they are a Christian by the journey they take and decisions they make. Dialog isn’t a place holder for storytelling prose. I was recently reading a novel where the author told a lot of the story from the internal thoughts of […]