Comments on: Showing vs Telling, Part Two

By: Becca

Becca — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:03:00 +0000

I agree, the rules can always be broken. Particularly the speed-limit ones.

By the way, can someone please tell me how to use an HTML tag to do italics in my comment? i see the nifty little reminder that it can be done, but I don't know how.

By: colbymarshall

colbymarshall — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 17:19:00 +0000

I’m glad to see you included a spot for when telling is okay. I think there are always exceptions to the rule, and sometimes it’s warranted.

By: courtney

courtney — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 03:45:00 +0000

Well done! Great info & balanced (there are a lot of anti-tellers out there… but telling does have it’s place). Another excellent post on TBM.

By: seafarer

seafarer — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 03:20:00 +0000

Thanks for the great post. Showing vs. telling is something that I seriously need to work on.

By: Angela

Angela — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 22:06:00 +0000

Very well said, Miz Becca–excellent post!

By: PJ Hoover

PJ Hoover — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 20:04:00 +0000

Got it! I notice writers want to do this all the time, and it’s so not needed when the showing is done right.
Thanks for the great example!

By: Becca

Becca — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 17:51:00 +0000

Here's an example, PJ:

Beth's arms felt like noodles. Her legs were heavy as tree trunks and she could barely lift her head. She was completely exhausted.

The final line is the telling one. I tend to show something then tag on a line that tells what I've just shown. *boggle*

By: Tabitha

Tabitha — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 02:28:00 +0000

Great post, Becca. And good to see you out of Motherhood Exile and posting again! 🙂

By: Sheri

Sheri — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 03:11:00 +0000

Wow! This is a great blog. Thanks so much. And I love the emotion thesaurus. I will definitely be back when I have more time to read, read, read!

By: PJ Hoover

PJ Hoover — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 02:51:00 +0000

Great post! Will you give an example of the telling stated here:
2. Be conscious of places where something has been explained. In my writing, this is almost always a short sentence that gives a concise summary.

Thanks! And welcome out of Motherhood Exile. It's a lonely place to be and it's nice to get out!