Best tips ever

Writing Tips from an Editor (Who Also Writes)

People throw around the phrase “Show, don’t tell” all the time. But what does it mean? Really?

When I’m editing a client’s work, I always explain what I mean when I say “Show, don’t tell,” so I know we’re on the same page (pun intended). 

FYI: This advice is really 2nd or 3rd draft advice. Don’t tie yourself in knots trying to get this perfect on the first go. First drafts are for telling yourself the story. Revisions are for craft. 

Ruthlessly hunt down filter words (saw, heard, wondered, felt, seemed, etc.). Most filter words push the reader out of narrative immersion, especially if you’re writing in 1st person or a close 3rd person. “She [or I] heard the wind in the trees” is less compelling than “The wind rustled through the trees” or “The wind set the bare branches to clacking.” Obviously, the point of view character is the one doing the hearing; telling the reader who’s doing the hearing is redundant and creates an unnecessary distance between the character’s experience and the reader’s experience of that experience. Was/were is another thing to watch out for; sometimes, nothing but was will do, but in many instances—“There was a wind in the trees” “There were dogs barking”—“was” tells, whereas other phrasing might evoke—“The wind whispered/howled/screamed through the trees” “Dogs snarled/yipped/barked in the courtyard/outside my door/at my heels.” 

Assume your readers are smart. What does this mean? Don’t tell the reader what your characters are thinking or feeling: “Bob was sad.” How do we know? What does Bob’s sadness look like, sound like? What actions, expressions, words indicate Bob’s sadness? Does Bob’s sadness look different than Jane’s would?

It also means that you need not repeat information unless you have something new to add to it—even if it’s been several chapters since you first mentioned it. I think a lot of readers fall into this trap because writing often takes a long time. But what takes a writer days or weeks or months to write might take a reader fifteen minutes to read. So, if the writer keeps telling the reader about so-and-so’s flaming red hair or such-and-such’s distrust or Bob’s blue eyes or Jane’s job as a neurosurgeon, the reader gets annoyed. 

The last thing you want is your reader rolling their eyes and muttering, “OMG, I KNOW” at the story you’ve worked so hard to write. It certainly means you don’t need to have characters tell each other (and through them, the reader) what the story is about or what a plot point means.

Along these same lines, let the reader use their imagination. “Bob stood, turned around, walked across the room, reached up, and took the book from the shelf.” Holy stage directions, Batman! A far less wordy “Bob fetched the book from the shelf” implies all those irrelevant other details. However, if Bob has, say, been bedbound for ten years but stands up, turns around, and walks across the room to fetch the book, that’s a big deal. Those details are suddenly really important.

Write the action. Write the scene with the important information in it. Let the reader be present for the excitement, the drama, the passion, the grief. If you’re finding yourself writing a lot of after-the-fact recap or “he thought about the time he had seen Z” or “and then they had done X and so-and-so had said Y,” you’re not in the action. You’re not in the importance. Exceptions abound, of course; that’s true of all writing advice. But overuse of recapping is dull. Instead of the reader being present and experiencing the story, it’s like they’re stuck listening to someone’s imperfect retelling. Imagine getting only “Last week on…” and “Next week on…” but never getting to watch an episode. I’m editing a book right now with some egregious use of this. The author has a bad habit of setting up a scene in the narrative present—“The queen met the warrior in the garden.”—but then backtracking into a kind of flashback almost immediately. “Last night, when her lady-in-waiting had first suggested meeting the warrior, she had said, ‘Blah blah blah.’ The queen hadn’t considered meeting the warrior before, but as she dressed for bed, she decided they would meet in the garden the next day. Now, standing in the garden, she couldn’t remember why it had seemed like a good idea.”

That’s a really simplified and exaggerated example, but do you see what I’m getting at? If the queen’s conversation with the lady-in-waiting and the resulting indecision are important enough to be in the narrative, if they influence the narrative, let the reader be present for them instead of breaking the forward momentum of the story to “tell” what happened when the reader wasn’t there. Unless it’s narratively important for something to happen off-page (usually because of an unreliable narrator or to build suspense or to avoid giving away a mystery), show your readers the action. Let them experience it along with the characters. Invite them into the story instead of keeping them at a distance.

Finally, please, please don’t rely on suddenly or and then to do the heavy lifting of surprise or moving the story forward; English has so many excellent verbs. Generally speaking, writers could stand to use a larger variety of them. 

(But said is not dead, okay? SAID IS VERY, VERY ALIVE.)

#dancedancerevolution #fortnite #twoweeks #dancevideo #keithandpapa #papaandkeith https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu5DeZanIP6/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1how9kh2t4riq

#podcast #podcasttwo #roadtrip #chaosabounds so we did this as we were going down the road. Nana was filming the chaos that unfolded. Hahahahahah (at Edwards, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/BusRBOqHaT3/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=dk8o3h3hx3uc

#gregorihighschool Good morning! (at Joseph Gregori High School) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bul1Mq5HqTc/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1wxtphhq5c7tj

#Gregori! #morning #goodmorning #jags #jag #jagcountry #josephagregorihishschool #friday well we made it! (at Joseph Gregori High School) https://www.instagram.com/p/BuMG-Etn0CL/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=c9j7lt2z8hwo

#nogrammar #grammar #cantwrite #sadheadline #badwriting #embarrasing Since when do major publishing houses produce grammatically wrong headlines? This is what we have been reduxed to in news? (at Save Mart) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bt9aCKGn4Rk/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1fd0l326tabmi

#Gregori #gojags #jags #girlsbball #girlsbasketball So JV won first Place and the Varsity is playing now! (at Salida, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/BtmxXS0nSm_/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=d6jjqobd0sd4

#grandkids #granddaughters #grandchildren #birthday #grandparents #blessings #lovelife So my granddaughter made this collage for my birthday! She surprised me with it last night and said I had to take it to school and hang it on the wall. Hahahha I am so bery blessed to have so many loving grandchildren. My life is a dream. (at Joseph Gregori High School) https://www.instagram.com/p/BtWWIiYnao3/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=ikks1xja1rc

#grandkids #grandchildren #kids Here to visit Neil Hili’za Fillmore the new baby. There are eight kids between my two daughters! Hahahaha so very blessed. (at Sutter Creek, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs6VCEsnC7Q/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=xmo3uqhrhr2p

#octopus #octopustattoo #tattoo (at Dos Changos Locos Tattoo Studio) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs2AcwZn9gW/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=z7f6t4h5hh2i

#grandkids #grandchildren #grandsons #number16 #grandkid16 So Neil Hili’za Fillmore 7lbs 9oz 19 1/2 inches long. we are a very blessed family. Neil with his uncle Hunter singing him a Native song! Family first. Lil Scott Rowland Tulisi Fillmore amd Nana with new brother. (at Sutter Amador Hospital) https://www.instagram.com/p/BsvcsSNH6sX/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1txifvw47izjr

#sistertime #harmonieandlondyn #granddaughters #grandson #grandkids #grandchildren the girls are playing with their dolls. Zechariah is playing withbhis plane. Good times (at Modesto, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bsiy9odnOjf/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=25terjtfyaws

#grandkids #grandchildren So Keith farted so bad we rolled all the windows down and even he has his head hanging out the back window because it is so bad! (at Modesto, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/BsZJS4Inxmm/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1pcakwhkt5nh

#orientaltattoo #asiantattoo #onitattoo #tattoo Got to do this on Bobby Little today. Missed you Jen. (at Dos Changos Locos Tattoo Studio) https://www.instagram.com/p/BsRc0YBnd7P/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1n2q9h2bozbby

#rexton #happynewyears Rex is having a fun time. (at Bakersfield - Weedpatch Hwy) https://www.instagram.com/p/BsE8K1uHAY7/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=czsycngdmil7

#watercolor #tryingtheseout #watercolorpens my cousin Dave@got me these watercolor pens. Trying these out. A little fun stuff. (at California) https://www.instagram.com/p/Br_hkuFHo4O/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=ou7o2ytbt6np

#watercolor #fun #painttime #relaxation Holiday time off. A little bit of watercolor fun. Happy holidays may the new year bring you success and happiness. (at California) https://www.instagram.com/p/Br6SfNkn1yR/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1n2jhssl25uwq