show not tell – Patrice Sarath

Gordath Wood

Writing lessons — hide the ball

Beginners often don’t know what information to reveal and what information to hide. Especially in science fiction and fantasy, writers have to set up a world as well as characters and a plot (which makes me wonder why mainstream literature underestimates SF/F so badly, but there you go). While we Read more…

By Patrice Sarath, 12 years ago

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Writing lessons — show, not tell

When you take part in a writing workshop or writers group, you will often be told, “show, not tell.” So what does this mean? When you tell, you remove the reader from the action, characters, setting and plot, leaching the emotional reaction the reader has to your story. When you Read more…

By Patrice Sarath, 13 years13 years ago