Whether you’re enrolled in Creative Writing 101 or you’re working on your tenth novel, you’ve probably been told to “show, don’t tell.” But what does your teacher/editor/agent/critique group actually mean when advising you to show rather than tell?
Crappy Endings
As an editor, there are few things that I hate more than reading fifteen pages of an excellent story or essay, only to have the writer blow it in the last page or two with an unsatisfying (or downright awful) ending. I wish I could say this was a rare…
The Importance of First Lines
Compare: Gregor Samsa was a cockroach when he woke up one morning. vs. As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. Same idea, but a world of difference. Read them out loud. (Go ahead — nobody’s listening.)…