#shownottell

[cjsworld55]

~MJ Bush

My favourite quote from MJ Bush. Truly, it is one of the best out there.

[juanxxzh]

How to show, not tell?

A lot of times, I found myself falling into a pattern where I tell too much, so I tend to follow a very simple strategy when I am trying to ‘show’. I use this strategy to turn all the ‘TELLING’ into ‘SHOWING’ in my writing.

What am I trying to express? Is it sadness? Humiliation? Loneliness? Pinpointing the precise emotion(s) that you’re trying to express in the writing is very important.

What kind of adjectives/verbs would directly express it? In other words, how can I TELL the scene? Often, telling the scene can be a good way to draft out a rough outline of knowing precisely what the SHOWING is supposed to equate to.

For example: Lisa smiled, she finally avenged her father’s killer.

Next, replace the adjective/verb that you used in the sentence with a description.

Lisa smiled, she finally avenged her father’s killer.

Lisa towered above her victim’s broken body. The adrenaline rush is still there, roaring in her veins. She replayed her victim's final pleads as his body slowly crumbled onto the floor, watching the final desperate breath squeeze out of his chest. She finally avenged her father’s killer.

See? Just take out the direct adjectives, verbs, and overused cliches and replace them with descriptions that match their meaning.

Extra tip! For writing description, definitely avoid cliches. Or if you’re going to use a cliche, make sure to twist it a little so it can appeal to the audience in a new way.

For example: Facing the monster, I feel my heart pounding in my chest.

Change to: Facing the ferocious monster, I feel my heart desperately hammering against my chest, pleading for escape. Even my heart wants nothing more than to run away from this whole mess.

Happy writing!

[rowantaymuree]

So we were recording William’s Child’s snappily titled “O Lord God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance” today and there’s a bit of text that’s repeated through a section “shall Thy (as in, the Lord’s) jealousy burn like fire” and the texture dynamically softens a bit (oh hush idc that dynamics aren’t originally written), and then the tenors have this amazing moment in which, the flame, now reduced to a little flamelet, flickers (and before the word “forever” to boot, betraying the current emotion by portraying the answer to the question). Ugh, it’s this level and subtlety and detail that makes me happy-rage, so so clever❤️

[ariannasenvolant]

show me your potential & show me that you understand

[lb01034841]

2022 Re-Think尋找城市の煙蒂獵人feat. ORIS - 這次不淨灘改淨街 在菸蒂透過水溝流入海洋之前 我們走了平常不會進去的巷子裡 甚至翻開了水溝蓋一根一根的撿 同時遇到很多人問我們在做什麼 通常得知在淨街後 都一臉狐疑不是有清潔隊嗎 但全台灣清潔隊的才這些人 只要有一個人抽完一根菸隨手丟地上 後面就會有一堆有樣學樣的 更諷刺的是我們走進巷子 明明有自製的菸桶 但大家依然無視這一切全都丟水溝裡 而且這次活動有兩對爸媽在我們這組 他們帶著小小孩一起撿大人製造的菸蒂 雖然小朋友可能覺得跟著出來玩很有趣 但看在同組的阿姨叔叔眼裡 希望他們可以長大在一個乾淨城市裡 希望身邊的朋友們轉告身邊的人 菸蒂垃圾不要亂丟 順便戒菸對身體也好 環境需要你我一起維護才行 - 最後我們這組的成績報告 乾菸蒂：約1059支 濕菸蒂：約1000支 打火機：約2～3支 #生而為人環保是義務 #shownottell （在 西門町 Ximenting） https://www.instagram.com/p/Ca_xCL0vNn0/?utm_medium=tumblr

[authortracybayle]

NOW YOU DO ONE! #shownottell #writing #writinginspiration #readersofinstagram #edits #edit #editing #editor #homeschool #homeschooling #creativewriting #creativewomen #tracybayleauthor #smallbusiness #smallbusinessowner #authorlife #emoji #emojichallenge #work #workfromhome #workinprogress #homework #amwriting #inspiration https://www.amazon.com/Convenient-Catastrophe-Tracy-Bayle-ebook/dp/B082TV8YMB https://www.instagram.com/p/CGXhZiJgxUe/?igshid=12t723q346gku

[spartan682]

The iron never lies. The iron will always kick you the real deal. #ironandthesoul #leadbyexample #shownottell 200 pounds will always be 200 pounds. https://www.instagram.com/p/BoNhsRihFbdR2NiZlSgvEcsDSG2uv6u5QMdKXg0/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1wnzbsjww3fc7

[wingworldweb]

How not to just tell the reader how old something or someone is. Show him. I'm reading Matt Haig's new fantasy novel "How to Stop Time". I came across these passages about a very old tree. The main protagonist doesn't stop at merely telling us how old the tree is. At first, he enumerates: "There is a tree in California, a Great Basin bristlecone pine that was found, after an intensive ring count, to be five thousand and sixty-five years old." (He goes on further, and compares the tree with himself - he himself is centuries old because of an ailment that stops him from growing old. Then, slowly building up with summary descriptions, he starts to compare the tree with various ancient periods. To connote a stasis in growing old, he rhymes "since" a few times, without using verbs, about the Pharaohs, Troy, Bronze age, the start of yoga, mammoths) "Even to me, that pine seems old. In recent years, whenever I have despaired of my condition and needed to feel a bit more mortal and ordinary, I think of that tree in California. It has been alive since the Pharaohs. It has been alive since the founding of Troy. Since the start of the Bronze Age. Since the start of yoga. Since mammoths." (The age of the tree only begins to become more interesting when he elaborates, with verbs this time, connoting movements in the growing, how it sprouts and loses leaves at the same time as these various events throughout history:) "And it has stayed there, calmly in its spot, growing slowly, producing leaves, losing leaves, producing more, as those mammoths became extinct, as Homer wrote The Odyssey, as Cleopatra reigned, as Jesus was nailed to a cross, as Siddhārtha Gautama left his palace to weep for his suffering subjects, as the Roman Empire declined and fell, as Carthage was captured, as water buffalo were domesticated in China, as the Incas built cities, as I leaned over the well with Rose, as America fought with itself, as world wars happened, as Facebook was invented, as millions of humans and other animals lived and fought and procreated and went, bewildered, to their fast graves, the tree had always been the tree.” Excerpt From: Haig, Matt. “How to Stop Time.” Canongate Books.