Category: show don’t tell
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She Narrowed Her Eyes: Emotions into Body Language
One thing I look for when writing a characters emotions is body language. How does anger translate in a person’s expression, posture and movement? How does shock? How should a writer transcribe what their characters feel into tangible body language? Let’s break it down. First, I want to thank author K. M. Weiland for introducing…
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Sense Sensation
This helpful writing infographic is from TRCHANDLERWRITES.COM: Photo by cottonbro from Pexels
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Friday’s Findings
He who controls the spice, controls the universe. Frank Herbert, Dune And he who controls the movie rights to Dune controls how people perceive the novel. Dune continues to be my favorite science fiction novel since my teen years. It’s been made for the screen three times so far: Dune (1984), Dune mini-series (2000), and…
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Start The Scene With Action And Dialogue
Okay, this is a long post. Just warning you. This good news is you can just read the highlights in bold to get the gist for each section. This post is for reference as you may want to experiment with the writing exercise I’ve fleshed out in the following paragraphs. In the previous post, I…
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Friday’s Findings: A Fiction writing Experiment in Layering
I’ve been experimenting with layering as a way to develop a scene. One aspect of layering I find helpful is how it can focus on the dialogue and action. I believe those two fiction elements are where a writer should begin when writing a scene draft. Here’s how I’ve been doing it: I make a…
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Writing Advice Page Updated
Have you ever wished you knew more about writing short stories and novels? How to write realistic dialogue? How to create smooth prose? I’ve updated my writing advice page by collecting links to articles on fiction elements. Feel free to explore them to hone your writing craft through learning or reference. Topics include: Backstory Beats…
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How I Write My Scenes
“How do I write this story?” Take a deep breath. Writing a novel or short story starts with writing one word. Then one sentence. Then one paragraph. Then one scene. Stop right there. Let’s focus on the scene in fiction writing. Scenes are the basic building blocks of the fiction process, but how do I…
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Writing Style Outcasts: Telling
Geez, “telling” gets treated like like the weird kid at school, but it’s an important tool in the writing and editing process. Stop harassing it! You’ve all heard, “Show don’t tell.” The thing is, the writer is suppose to use both. Usually, I use telling at the beginning of the scene. If the reader needs…
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Show Don’t Tell: Misunderstood But Important
Call me weird, but I find “Show Don’t Tell” articles interesting. The following is a recent post at Reddit.com about this writing concept in the Writing subreddit: This is one of the most misunderstood rules in all of prose fiction. It’s important to understand that every single sentence you write is simultaneously telling one thing…
Andrew M. Friday 