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Post by Joxcenia on Mar 17, 2005 18:20:41 GMT -6
Click on the word: "Excerpt" and then click on each page until you have read the first six pages of chapter one. See if this book isn't worth buying.
"Telling" and not "showing" is one of my flaws as a writer. Writers need to take a "telling" manuscript that has potential, and turn it into a "showing" manuscript that publishers can't resist.
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Post by Joxcenia on Mar 18, 2005 20:09:31 GMT -6
Those of you from other countries can do a search with the google you have, just copy and paste the following into the search box:
Writer's Examples+Show Don't Tell
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Post by Joxcenia on Mar 22, 2005 0:32:11 GMT -6
One of my problems in writing is "telling" instead of "showing"... Another problem is that I'm too brief with my descriptions. Some books I've read have taken 10 pages to describe a dress... I don't want to over do it, but I would like to be more descriptive than I am. If anyone knows of books or exercises that can help me in these areas, lay 'em on me.
I think my problem is that I'm lazy... When the story is flowing, I don't want to take the time to gather the background because I could/would lose what I haven't written down yet. Then once it's written, I tend to view it as "written in stone", and don't wish to edit for fear of losing the "meat" of the story. Editing is truly the "hard work" of writing, I think.
I probably should go through each scene and write what's going on around what I've written and how the characters act/react to what's going on around them and what is being said between/around them, and then add the best of it to the story. But that means I have to really "work" at writing, and it isn't something done for fun. I guess it's time to think of this as a job, and not as a hobby.
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Post by Joxcenia on Mar 22, 2005 0:32:53 GMT -6
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Post by Joxcenia on Mar 25, 2005 23:44:52 GMT -6
Okay, I bought this book and got it in the mail today. There are exercises at the end of each chapter. I've only read the first chapter, but that alone is worth the price.
I think Books-A-Million is the cheapest, but feel free to check out other bookstores. You'll find a list here. Make sure you get the Second Edition.
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Mij
Whooshite Apprentice
Mein ungew?hnliches Leben
Posts: 208
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Post by Mij on Apr 29, 2005 7:20:01 GMT -6
I wouldn't get too stressed about not being too verbose.
Look at the stuff that Robert Jordan releases with his "Wheel Of Time" series. It goes on forever & not a lot really happens from book to book....
Compare that to say, an EC Tubb who wrote the same book 30+ times in his Dumarest series, but wrote them very quickly, getting into the meat of the (same) story, book after book...
It's a very good writer that can hold the attention span of a reader for pages on end without actually moving or developing the story much. Such writers are like hen's teeth. And to my mind, the best of them (Neil Gaiman) doesn't write like that anyway.....
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Post by Joxcenia on Jun 29, 2005 17:40:13 GMT -6
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Senara
Whooshite Apprentice
Recycling and cuddling are very important to me.
Posts: 103
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Post by Senara on Jul 3, 2005 21:06:32 GMT -6
Hey Joxy, I don't know how long you work on your stories, but I take forever on mine. I'll write the outline and ideas and stuff and then it may be weeks before I even start. LOL. Anyway, my point is, I write different things when I am in different moods. Some days I can write the 'show them' detail and some days I'm writing fast and furious and don't want to mess with it. I just go back later when I'm in that mood again and fill in the good stuff. For me though, nothing is ever set in stone. I tend to go over and over my work. I have a story that I have been writing off and on for over 2 years now... so don't listen to me!
Sera
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Post by Joxcenia on Jul 3, 2005 21:17:32 GMT -6
I've been reading some books on writing... got them listed in here somewhere, and at my writer's forum... they say that it's okay to have 'telling' in your first draft as long and you rework it into 'showing' on a rewrite. So now I don't feel so bad. Also learned to throw everything in there, even the kitchen sink... as it helps me as the writer to know my story and characters... then edit out what I needed as a writer and only leave the story. I've written down some quotes I liked and will be adding them to my forum at some point.
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Post by Joxcenia on Jul 5, 2005 17:07:33 GMT -6
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Post by Mini Mia on May 8, 2015 15:36:57 GMT -6
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Post by Mini Mia on Feb 17, 2016 19:22:37 GMT -6
The perfect book for beginner writers who haven't quite mastered the art of "Show, Don't Tell:"
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Post by Phalon on Oct 8, 2017 20:47:50 GMT -6
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Post by Mini Mia on Jun 19, 2018 2:27:57 GMT -6
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