Show the readers everything, tell them nothing. ― Ernest Hemingway Writers are frequently admonished to show not tell, but what does that mean exactly? I’m no master yet, but Mary Buckham’s recent Body Language and Emotion class has helped a lot. (Seriously, if you get the chance to take anything she teaches, spend the money.)
How many ways can you think of to express your character’s anxiety? His happiness? Her anger? Does your antagonist always look behind him? Does your hero clench his fists every time? Does your heroine’s mouth flatten over and over? A traditional thesaurus may not help when you want to describe the actions and reactions of
You can also catch this post over at Romance Magicians… What do Einstein and writing guru Dwight V. Swain have in common? The theory of relativity. Einstein once famously said, “Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and
You thought this post was going to be about writing sex scenes didn’t you? 😉 Sorry, but I’m talking about passion in the larger sense as defined by the Mac dictionary: strong and barely controllable emotion. What are you passionate about? Global warming? U.S. involvement in the Middle East? Sea turtles? Education? Adoption? Animals? School
My CP is constantly harping and nagging…ahem, I mean gently reminding me about the need to infuse my writing with more emotion. And, she’s right. In my head, the characters are going through such turmoil and angst, but I often forget to pour that emotion onto the page for the reader to see. Some of