Show, don't tell
“Show me Bob walking across the room to turn on the heat, don’t tell me.” What? What does that mean? I didn’t get it, if I wrote that Bob walked across the room to turn on the heat, the reader should know he was cold why wasn’t that showing them? I didn’t study creative writing as most published authors did. Oh, sure I had a gift of storytelling, but not a clue how to properly put that story into words. I had to learn one baby step at a time. But still I have come to find out that the show, don’t tell thing is a hard concept for even the most studied authors to learn. It took two books, a few frustrated editors, and the start of the third book for the light to finally come on for me. Show, don't tell allows the reader to be in the room with Bob as he walks across it. They can hear the boards creek beneath his feet or feel the icy chill on his arms as gooseflesh begins to rise. Describing the walk and cold through action words, thoughts, s...