For writers: showing versus telling

New authors often get told: show, don’t tell. It’s a biggie for writers. I’ve read it, heard it and seen it more times than I can count in reputable helpful sites. I know I probably ‘tell’ and don’t show. My issue is not that I wasn’t willing to do as I was told, my issue is I have trouble telling the difference. What does ‘telling’ mean? What constitutes a ‘show’?

So, I found a couple of sites that really impressed me because they were so clear on this issue and I thought I’d pass them on.

Nina Kaytel has this amazing post with amazing examples that are not only clear but they’re small and easy to read. Her post helped me to actually see the difference. Here’s the link: http://ninakaytel.wordpress.com/2014/01/01/what-ive-learned-beta-reading/

Kelly Leiter wrote a wonderful post on the difference and she brings it down to three rules that are awesome because they’re easy! Better yet, she also adds a group of links to other sites where they also explain ‘show vs. tell’. (Let’s just admit it, Kelly Leiter’s site rocks).

Here’s the link: http://www.thebeginningwriter.com/2012/03/explaining-show-dont-tell.html

But those are not the only people who’ve written on ‘show vs. tell’.

Nathan Bransford, a former literary agent, has a great blog full of resources and here’s his post on this topic: http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2009/09/showing-vs-telling.html

* K.M. Weiland, another powerful resource, wrote this great post on the topic here: http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/2013/02/the-secret-to-show-dont-tell.html

One more, I found that I thought was particularly good (and a great site):

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/show-dont-tell/

Personally, I’ve also rearranged and re-organized my Resources tab so, hopefully, things are easier to access to those checking it out.

I know, I know. Overwhelming. No more links. We’re done! 🙂