What do you call that stage of depression when you've been a published author for 13 years, but in the last year more and more bookstores have been scared to order your books, thanks to the new Hungarian anti-lgbt laws, and now you make less than you used to?
Always wanted to help with my stories. Never to hurt. And somehow I'm being punished because of these goddamn laws. Lucky to say that I have amazing readers. But still.
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the problem with reading and writing leading to a strong vocabulary is that you tend to know the vibe of words instead of their meanings.
if I used this word in a sentence, would it make sense? absolutely. if you asked me what it meant, could I tell you? absolutely not.
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what people think the most time-consuming part of writing is: writing
what it actually is: stopping every few sentences to fact-check, make sure a word means what you thought it meant, find synonyms, revert to the outline…
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Tips For "Show, Don't Tell."
Honestly, show don't tell is something I feel even I struggle with and I'm pretty sure anyone who writes faces it. Finding a balance is hard. When to show and when to tell can become an inherent feeling though. However, there are some things I've learnt and I hope they help you!
❥︎Emphasise Sensory Detailing: Not only does packing a scene with sensory details help readers imagine the setting, it also gives your characters a distinct physical world to interact with. Rather than simply saying that a character is in New York, describe the light reflecting off the Hudson River, or the towering colossus of the Statue of Liberty.
❥︎Describe body language and avoid emotional explanation when showing.
❥︎Like I said, focus on describing senses and lean more on the usage of imagery too, it'll help if you understand that literary device. I have a post on how to use imagery in writing which helps a lot when showing and not telling. Pick adjectives that you use to describe and replace them with sensory descriptions. Eg:
+ He was scared when he saw the lion at the exit.
+ His heart raced when he saw the lion looming at the end of his escape route.
See what I did here?
Did you feel the difference?
❥︎ learn from examples of 'Show, Don't tell' by reading. The most basic.
❥︎ Use of Dialogue: can also teach readers about characters through word choice, tone, and POV. For instance:
The tray flipped and drenched her in wine. She shrieked and jumped out of her seat, glaring at the waiter.
And
The tray flipped and drenched her in wine but all she did was sigh and smile in understanding.
The scene is the same but the character's approach was different in each case. The former seems kind while the latter seems to be a temperamental character.
❥︎Make your character do something out of ordinary, something that breaks the routine or would make a heavier impact. For eg:
If a character speaks in long-winded, erudite sentences, readers might gather that they are pompous and well-educated. If this same character suddenly begins speaking in terse, short bursts later in the novel, readers might note that something in that character has shifted.
If they're described as someone who never cooks say and then at some time they cook for the live interest, it'll pique the reader’s Interest because it was uncharacteristic of them to do.
❥︎Having a diverse vocabulary, imagination and the ability to use literary devices like metaphors will greatly aid in Show don't tell.
❥︎And lastly, It's fine if you don't get it right the first time because that's how writing works. The more you read, attempt and err, the more you learn. But having an idea of what to do will go a great way in guiding and saving time.
Hope it helps! Follow for more, like and share! <3
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went from strictly reading one book after the other to reading four at the same time and damn what a game changer! you mean to tell me that it would have been an option to switch to a different book when I don’t really feel the vibe that moment all along? what a concept.
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