Remember Show and Tell when you were in grade school? Students brought in something that interested them, and then told about it. It wouldn’t have been as effective if the student just told the class without having some proof, something to show.
Well, the same principle applies to writing. You can research a subject and tell about it, or begin to develop a main character by telling about them. But it’s a whole lot more interesting, intriguing, eye-opening if you also show who or what. For example, I started reading a romance story by an extremely successful author. On about the second page, after introducing the main character, the author launched into a paragraph that basically read, “She laughed. She cried. She worked hard. She had problems and heartaches.” So much for character development. I closed the book and returned it to the library.
In the above photo, I published a short story in Animal Friends magazine about otters. I did a lot of research about what they ate, how they hunted, how much they weighed on average and other facts. But it would have been a dull article if that were all I wrote. I created Otter, who was hunting for food for her family. I used the facts, including how much weight she could bring to bear on pulling or maneuvering objects, but in a way that continued the plot rather than just told those youthful readers simple facts. Show is equally if not more important than tell.
Facts are vital no matter what genre you write in, but they are just part of the story. How you use them to make the story move along is elemental to writing, no matter whether it is fact or fiction. Know your character but show who this newly created person is by the strong use of active verbs and viable situations. Introduce supportive characters who help carry the plot along.
And this is we “re-vision”…write the first draft, then go back and make sure you are showing as much or more than merely telling. Plus, it’s a lot easier when you know how the story is going to end!
