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Jade21
Lv 4
Jade21 asked in Social SciencePsychology · 7 years ago

How to show and not tell in my writing?

I write good stories and have received great compliments for my writing. But my weakness is that I can't express myself the way I want to express myself in my writing. I want to show or describe what is going on instead of telling it all of time. What are some ways that I can help improve my craft? Thanks.

2 Answers

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  • 7 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    Just sort of think about it.

    "He was really sad after the death of his child." vs.

    "Tears streamed down his face as he stood at the wake of his only child."

    Basically, when it comes to human emotions, for example, you don't say what they're feeling. You explain the effects these emotions are having on the person and leave it up to the reader to decide what's going on. This works with most things. Also, I'm not sure what the technical literary device-y term thing is for it, but you should write the effects of events instead of the actual events. For example, if somebody punches someone in the face. You should describe the sound it makes, the sound the receiver of the punch makes, what happens to the guy who just got punched. Something like, "John let out a wail of pain as the force of Bill's strike collided with his face. He tumbled backwards as he tried to recoil." Something like that(obviously could be better written, but I don't want to spend too much time on this). I guess you could look at it as reaction vs. action. One more thing to consider is the words you use. You should choose words that resonate more than everyday words. Like... "his strike" is more dramatic than "his punch" or "his fist". It just depends on the situation really. Anyways, I hope I helped, if even a little.

  • 7 years ago

    You can use more imagery..Use word describing the scene.

    It was a blustery evening in a firey wonderous world.

    Or use metaphors so the readers think.

    Examples are,beast,demon,wolf,,to describe a man.

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