by Barbara Linn Probst

I worry, sometimes, that we’ve gotten in the habit of thinking of telling as the bad twin and showing as the good one—as if there are only two options and, of those, only one that the skillful writer would choose.… Read the post

Lori Freeland

“Show, don’t tell” might be the three most misunderstood words in a writer’s vocabulary.

But—

• Why is showing so important?
• Is it always bad to tell?
• How the heck do you even know if you’re doing it right?

by Lori Freeland

Avoid unlikeable main characters. Show don’t tell. Lock your character into character. Tell your story forward. Pass on passive verbs. Say bye-bye to backstory. Nix the omniscient narrator and dodge the dreaded head hop. Always remember adjectives are lazy, exclamation points are evil, and adverbs are from the devil.… Read the post

Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Readers experience your novel through the eyes of your narrator. Sometimes this narrative filter is invisible and readers don’t perceive any distance between them and the point-of-view character, such as with a first-person point of view. Other times the filters are obvious and readers feel the space between them and the characters, such as with an omniscient narrator.… Read the post

Margie Lawson

Most writers know Show Don’t Tell, but sometimes they think they’re showing when they are telling.

Here’s my oh-so-easy check.

Read the sentence that you think SHOWS the reader something.

Ask yourself ---- What’s the Visual?

You may be surprised that the sentence doesn’t provide a visual.… Read the post