Myth Busters #2: Show Don't Tell

This is definitely one of the most controversial topics in the writing world today. Show don't tell. You hear it at every turn you take on the writing journey. And yet, aside from learning voice, it is one of the most elusive methods to put into practice. I don't know about you, but I struggle with this more than anything. So what makes me an excerpt on this topic you ask? Because I do struggle and because each moment with my writing, I learn more and get stronger in my technique.

And just why do I have it labeled under Myth Busters?

Because showing and telling isn't as big a deal as so many of us make it out to be. So many of the talk centered around this method is about the showing part. I am going to let them worry about that. Because what about telling? And why does it always get such a bad rap?

For the longest time I made this so much harder than it should. Because not everything can be shown. If you show everything in your novel you are going to end up with a 1,000 page manuscript and with a reader so overwhelmnned they will be in tears.

Than I got this jewel of advice from author Susan May Warren: Telling only has to do with the AUTHOR telling us how a character feels. He felt sad. His sadness overtook him. He let the sadness settle inside.

That is telling. And it is as simple as that.

Really nothing more needs to be said on the showing front, but what about those times when you need to tell and how do you know when you should tell?

You can't show everything because in those moments when you need the story to move forward, you need to tell. Your reader will become emotionally exhausted if you don't. And the way to keep a story moving forward is to tell in certain areas.

When to Tell

~In short snippets to move through a story segment
~When the pace needs to be tightened and the tension heightened
~Right after a great deal of showing, move into a time of telling to allow your reader a chance to breathe.

When you need your story to move at a faster face, there will need to be telling. BUT don't cheat your reader by glossing over emotions. Like Susie said, when you are in a midst of telling, be sure and SHOW your character's emotions. How they are reacting to the scene around them, don't just let it pass them by without giving them the chance to experience it with the character. That is what will make a scene great.

Some memory scenes can be telling, depending on their depth and abilitiy to move the reader. How important is that scene to the story and will it make a difference later? If so, then you need to show it more as a flashback, but if not, keep it short and let the character tell through their thoughts. One way to know if it should be showing or telling: look at how long the scene is. The longer the scene: the more the need for showing.

After a great deal of showing, which takes more words and more time to experience for the reader, your pace will have to be slowed a bit. I am not necessarily talking about as in the forward motion of the character, you could have been working on their internal angst, but I am talking about the overall story. And it get back into the action you might have to do some telling. But don't let it become passive telling. Infuse it with action and strong verbs/ nouns that will keep the tension ratcheted up and the reader reading at a faster pace.

Strong verbs and nouns are your key to any scene, but especially to telling scenes. Because in those words, you are going to take your passive telling to active telling and it will infuse your writing and make it stronger. More interesting to read and leave your reader breathless. It will feel more real and natural and your reader won't even realize you have been telling.

Avoid large pockets of telling. Infuse dialogue, internal monologue and action, because large pockets of telling will bore the reader and give them an excuse to put the book down. So like showing, be sure and give your reader a break at the right moments. The way to know if you need to infuse showing or telling is to read very quickly through your manuscript, preferably in paper and ink format and see how you as a reader pick up on those moments. Let your internal editor disappear for a moment and just focus on the flow of the story. Your reader heart will find those moments of inaccuracy.

So the myth to showing and telling: you can't show an entire manuscript. Telling has to be infused.

And you can't tell an entire manuscript either. It will have no emotion and feeling for the reader, you have to show and you have to tell. You have to do both. It can't be one without the other.

So do you struggle with knowing when you should show or tell? Do you struggle to understand the concept? Do tell, I would love to know. :-)

Myth Busters #1: Hitting the Writer's Block Wall

Deep breath...

Just breathe...

Breathe...

Breathe...

We dread it. We fear it. We can see  it looming on the distant horizon. We blink. It is still there. We turn around and run.... and find it was behind us all along, just waiting to sneak up on us and POUNCE!

Writer's block is a very real, very tangible fear in writers. Ideas are stymied, words won't flow and our characters are off in Never, Never Land completely ignoring our pleas to, please, please, please don't leave us!

Hitting the Writer's Block Wall is my first installment in a month long series entitled: Myth Busters and there is a reason I am calling writer's block a myth.

Yes, it is a very real thing. It does sneak up on us and it does render us incapable of continuing our writing for a time, but I propose that there is a way to beat it. Run it into the ground and then dance on its grave. Because writer's block is merely an excuse for the writer when the bucket is scraping the bottom of the nearly dry well. So how do you avoid such a catastrophe?

Top 5 Avoiding Writer's Block Tips

1: Know your characters and where you want to take your story

2: No matter what, keep writing! Never stop no matter how much you want to

3: When you feel it coming on, pick up a book on writing and read

4: Keep your favorite novel handy and continue to feed the ideas growing in your mind

5: Pray for words, pray for determination

Knowing your story and the reason behind why you are writing it will go a long way in avoiding writer's block. I will admit I was worried I was going to hit that wall when I was writing my last story. But I knew where I wanted to go. I knew my characters and the arc they needed to travel to get to the end result. And in knowing that, I also knew what they needed to go through. Many things changed along the way, but I always had an end result in mind. When writing, continue to think about your end and the best way to get there while completely thrilling your reader. Start each day with an idea of where you want to take your story and expand upon it as you write. That is the sure fire way to make sure you never hit the writer's block wall.

Never. Stop. Writing. Let me say that again. Never. Stop. Writing.

When you stop writing, it only compounds that you will never be able to move past the writer's block wall. It will continue to loom there until you decide to scale it and the longer it sits there and the longer you sit there looking at it, the taller it will become and the harder it will be to climb over. Don't deceive yourself, taking a break will not ultimately help with the story. Write another 100 words, even if they don't make sense and then close the program. Continue to think about your story and go back and write again. Go write a letter, an email or a blog post, do something with words so it keeps your mind working. Don't let it rest during this temptation to give into writer's block.

 3 and 4 pretty much go hand in hand, but each one feeds a different need in your brain. The workbook continues to push your creativity level and the novel reminds you why you are writing, because you love to create and love to read. Much of writer's block comes from burnt out brains, so don't let your mind become fatigued, instead give it new fodder to consume by reading a page or two in your current novel and a paragraph or more in your current reference book.  Take a few breaks during your writing, move around, stretch, stop before your brain dies to avoid being overly taxed the next day. This will be a wonderful and huge preventative move against writer's block.

Number 5 is really the most important one of all and don't think I don't believe so when I made it last. Prayer for each writing day will take your writing a huge step forward. Pray for inspiration and the words that God wants you to write that day. And dive into your writing believing that it is possible to write a book and believing that God will give you all the inspiration you need.

The long and short of it is: writer's block is just a lie that the writer believes when they can't think of anywhere else to go. It is an excuse, a reason to quit. That niggling voice of doubt that is always reminding you that you can't do it. Believing that voice, listening to that voice only eats away at the time and energy you need to be storing up to write, so don't believe it. Refute it. And stand strong, remembering that writer's block is just as I said earlier, a myth.

So, your turn. Have you had writer's block? Fear it? Conquered it? Do tell.