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Show and tell

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.)

Filling my toolbox

My writing education has a theme. I cannot learn and apply a new concept or technique until my brain is ready for it. I’ve read book after book and taken numerous classes on all aspects of writing. Characterization, point of view, dialog, plotting, and so on. But often, even if I see the value of

The next dimension

Now that my (very) rough draft is complete, I’m working my way through Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook by Donald Maass, and applying it to my current MS. Chapter 2 is called Opening Extra Character Dimensions, and it is a real eye opener. It’s a great exercise–similar to one I did at a workshop by

Refrigerated writing

Today’s blog is also posted at: http://romancemagicians.blogspot.com/2010/01/refrigerated-writing.html. Is your writing fresh and new? How can you tell? I was recently catching up on Janet Reid’s great agent blog, and she addressed this very issue. After discussing how she handled the 122 of 124 writers she chose not to represent in 2009 (!), she gave some advice for