If your writing feels vanilla, the likely problem with your novel or short story is that it shows rather then tells. Just what does that mean exactly, and how can you fix it? Here are seven great tips for tackling show don’t tell problems in your writing. Click the linked title for the full article:
• Show, don’t tell when writing fiction
Want to slow your story to a glacial grind and get readers to quit reading your story? Then load it with lots of exposition. Problems arising with exposition often (and rightfully) elicit cries of “Show, don’t tell!” from editors.
• How to make your writing show rather than tell
• Show rather than tell a character’s personality
• Create successful story by staging it
• Opt for scene over summary when writing stories
• Show rather than tell the backstory
Among the major errors some novice writers make is waiting to tell readers a story. Those writers begin their tale with lots of background information, such as the main character’s personality, where that character lives, what she does for a job, who are the members of her family, and so on. They believe that readers need to know this information before the story can be told.
• Embedding exposition into your story
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My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of writers both new and published. I also offer a variety of self-publishing services. During the past decade, I’ve helped more than 400 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of the Storytelling 101 writing guidebooks, four nonfiction hiking guidebook series, and the literary novel Windmill. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.
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