Hello again Christian writers! A writing tip today on the subject of showing not telling. I know, It’s something I mention every now and then, but there’s no harm in reminding ourselves of the basics from time to time!
Suppose one of your characters is rude and stand-offish. Do you need to tell your readers that the reason she is behaving this way is because she is frightened to get close to people?
Could you show them instead? Could you write in such a way that your readers perceive the reason for her behaviour? That’s the joy of show not tell! Show your readers by her:
- speech
- body language
- actions
what is really going on.
We cover ‘show not tell’ In the Write for a Reason course. One of the exercises I set is to change some ‘tells’ into ‘shows’. Here’s a good example from one of our latest students (well done Michelle!):
Tell: He felt nervous and uncomfortable asking Annie to meet up.
Show: A pause. He cleared his throat and went on. ‘’Thing is, I’ve missed you Annie. A lot. I know how things are – difficult – just now, but it would be good to talk. I have a few days off work this week. I was wondering if we could get together, just you and me?
What do you think? Let us know in the comments below, or over on our facebook page!
Have a lovely week,
Janet
P.S. There may be one place left on the seven week online writing course by the time you read this. It starts tomorrow (Tuesday 4th April)! If you are interested, let me know, but please be quick. 🙂