{"id":1015,"date":"2010-03-05T12:21:22","date_gmt":"2010-03-05T19:21:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/?p=1015"},"modified":"2025-11-04T11:16:32","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T18:16:32","slug":"show-it-dont-tell-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/?p=1015","title":{"rendered":"Show it don’t tell it."},"content":{"rendered":"

Getting “help” from other writers often comes in little vague statements like the one above.. “show it, don’t tell it.”\u00a0\u00a0 It drove me nuts because I kept hearing how important this was to your writing but it was so obscure I was never sure WHAT they were talking about.\u00a0 I kept hearing that over and over and breathed a huge sigh of relief when someone finally gave me an example that\u00a0 made sense.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Her hair was black = telling it.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 She ran her hands nervously through her black hair = showing it.<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Thinking about this, I realized the true difference between fiction writing and journalism.\u00a0 Fiction writers “show it” so you can live vicariously in the story.\u00a0 Journalists “tell it” to you as facts.\u00a0 I wonder if journalists find it difficult to write fiction and if a fiction writer can write for a newspaper.\u00a0 On some level I’m sure they can.. as its like being good at sports.\u00a0 Good at one can often translate as good on another, although usually not AS good.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Here’s another gem of advice I’m getting lately.\u00a0 Tell more, with less<\/em>.\u00a0 Which is the English equivalent of use smaller, more perfect sentences and then use a lot of them.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Really?\u00a0 I asked in bafflement.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 But its like this… you can’t publish badly written crap.\u00a0 Because its expensive to publish stuff and if its shit then fewer people will buy it and you won’t make your money.\u00a0 So editors want to see you’re work as “perfectly written” as you can make it.\u00a0 Which can be hard to judge by the inexperienced writer!
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Now a\u00a0 monthly publication has different standards because they’ve got to have material to publish every month.\u00a0 Ah, but you see EVERYONE wants to be a writer.\u00a0 Frankly, I don’t know why.\u00a0 Writing is a bitch and it never pays and there is NO glory or fame in it at all.\u00a0\u00a0 So the market\u00a0 is glutted with wanna-be writers and editors just can’t wade through your bad writing to try and coach your talent along. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Instead everyone gives everyone else these vague\u00a0 but lovely platitudes and you can only turn to a critique group of others (likely as amateur as you are) to help you hone your ability to edit your work.\u00a0 Because the writing part is easy.. its the editing of your own work that is truly difficult to learn.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

So, of course, the people making the real money at writing are those publishing the “how to write” books … OBVIOUSLY!\u00a0\u00a0 A desperate ready market of hopefuls calling it a write-off.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I’ve been able to avoid that pitfall or buying other people’s “how to write” books, but I’m supposed to find a critique group. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind others reading my work and giving me help if they know what they’re talking about.\u00a0 But do they?\u00a0 If they’re successful what are they doing in a critique group for amateurs?\u00a0 And if they’re not, do they really know what they’re talking about? <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

And I’m not sure I have the skills to reciprocate!\u00a0 If I can’t edit my own stuff how can I possible do a good job for someone else.\u00a0\u00a0 And don’t get me started on the TIME involved!\u00a0 Obviously these people either don’t have kids, don’t have jobs or don’t have social lives.\u00a0 (Ha! I have all three!)
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Although I suppose I could go to a critique group meeting BEFORE a date.\u00a0 Won’t that just knock the socks off the little group when I show up in a clubbing outfit!\u00a0 Although with what <\/em>I <\/em>write they might assume its par for the course!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Hell if I’m going to start doing that I’ll need to buy better thigh highs!\u00a0 Sitting in them for long periods of time can really do a number on my thighs!
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Getting “help” from other writers often comes in little vague statements like the one above.. “show it, don’t tell it.”\u00a0\u00a0 It drove me nuts because I kept hearing how important this was to your writing but it was so obscure … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1015"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1015\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4456,"href":"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1015\/revisions\/4456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}